The African elephant is a defenseless giant. Dimensions and weight of the elephant

The elephant is the largest land animal on the planet. Its weight depends on its type and origin and can reach 8 tons or more. An angry elephant is very dangerous; in its anger it destroys everything in its path. It is not uncommon for people to die under the powerful feet of elephants.

Types and weight of elephants

If we compare currently existing land animals by their strength and position, then the elephant, the most important and strongest in Africa, will take its place in this chain. Next places will be occupied by a herd of buffaloes, and only after them will the Lion King ascend to this hierarchical ladder. The rest can no longer compare with these lords of the African shrouds in strength, agility and endurance; they easily become prey for lions, who do not refuse the opportunity to hunt larger and stronger animals.

Three species of elephants are known: Forest, Indian and Savannah (African). All of them are included in one mammal - elephants. The first species is the smallest representative of this family. Its height varies between 2.4-2.5 meters, and its weight rarely exceeds 2.7 tons. The Indian elephant is much larger than the Forest elephant, although it is far from its African counterpart. In the ranking of the largest terrestrial mammals planet he ranks second. An adult male is 2.5-3.5 meters tall and can weigh up to 5.5 tons.

The African or Savannah elephant has no equal in strength and power; its height can reach 4 meters and its weight can reach 8 tons. Females weigh much less - 3-4 tons; a baby elephant is born weighing 80-140 kg. On November 7, 1974, the largest male elephant ever recorded was shot dead in Mucusso, Angola, weighing 12.24 tons!

How much does an elephant eat and drink?

A quarter of the animal's weight falls on its head. This massive structure has a special device for eating - powerful chewing muscles, molars, a trunk and tusks. An adult weighs the same as 4 rhinos or 4 giraffes. The animal consumes up to 350 kg of food per day and drinks up to 230 liters of water. In search of food, the African elephant travels up to 12 km per day, taking breaks to sleep and rest. Elephants travel in groups, in which members individual families They are very attached to each other, although sometimes there are clashes, as in any family. Fights in the herd are very rare except when males fight over.

Living on land. Its size excites the imagination, since a person is simply short in comparison. However, even among these animals there are those who are clearly superior in size to their counterparts. So let's go on a short educational walk and find out: how much does the most big elephant in the world? Where does he live? And what curious secrets does he hide?

Descendants of ancient giants

The history of the origin of elephants goes back to those distant times when a great cold snap was slowly approaching the earth. If you believe the latest research, the first elephant-like animals were born approximately 1.6 million years ago. They were an accidental genetic error - a mutation that forever separated mastodons into two separate species.

At the same time, over the years, the elephant-like ones also succumbed evolutionary changes. They formed three separate subspecies. Namely mammoths, Indian and First, unfortunately, could not survive to this day. But the other two still walk the lands familiar to us. But the most curious thing is that throughout all these for long years they haven't changed much.

Indian and African elephant: who is bigger?

Even in the last century, scientists were confident that all elephants are the same, regardless of the region in which they live. However, later studies have proven that this is not true. In fact, the largest elephant is the African one. An animal from the Dark Continent is ahead of its Asian relative in both body weight and height.

It should also be noted that the African elephant is also divided into two large subspecies: savannah and forest. Moreover, the first one is larger. It follows from this that the largest elephant in the world is the one that lives in the vast African savannas. It is he who holds the title “the largest land animal on the planet.”

Some numbers: how much does an adult elephant weigh?

Let's start, probably, with the smallest representative of the elephant family - Indian, or, as it is also called, This animal lives in Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand, India, Vietnam and China. On average, males of this species grow to 2.5-3 m in height, and their weight ranges from 4.0-4.5 tons. Females are much shorter than their male counterparts - they rarely grow more than 2.4 m and weigh about 2-2.5 tons.

The African forest elephant is similar in many ways to its Indian relative. This is especially true of its proportions. Thus, the males of this species grow up to 3 m in height, however, today you rarely see such strong ones. On average, forest elephants reach 2.6 m, and their weight ranges from 2.5-3 tons. Females have approximately the same body proportions and are only slightly inferior to their gentlemen.

As for the savanna subspecies, it is truly the largest elephant on the planet. These giants can grow up to 4 meters in height, and their Weight Limit varies between 5-6 tons. Their body length reaches 6-7 meters. At the same time, females, like other subspecies, are much smaller than their gentlemen.

The biggest elephant in the world: who is he?

If you believe the old archives, the largest elephant was caught by hunters in Angola in the 19th century. Its weight was just under 12.5 tons, and each tusk weighed at least 50 kilograms. However, given how long ago the incident occurred, it is quite difficult to assert the veracity of these documents.

But official data says that the largest elephant is Yossi. This is the name of the 32-year-old African giant who lives in the Safari Park near the city of Romat-Gan. The weight of this animal is 6 tons, and its height is 3.7 meters. At the same time, the elephant is still quite young, and therefore there is a high probability that over the next ten years Yossi will grow up.

Some interesting facts about elephants

Few people know that:

• The largest Indian elephant was shot in 1924. His weight was 8 tons and his height was 3.35 m.
• Having strong legs, the elephant is nevertheless the only animal on the planet that cannot jump at all.
• In one day, an adult male can eat about 200 kilograms of plant food and drink 300 liters of water.
• Elephants very rarely kneel or crouch. Moreover, these animals sleep standing up, and only small elephants are able to lie on their sides.
• Despite such large body proportions, an elephant can run at a speed of 40 km/h. While running, he can easily break through a brick wall, and in case of panic, he will completely trample anyone who gets under his feet.

The largest animals that live on the land of our planet are elephants. And although the African elephant is much larger than its Indian relative, there is no need to talk about the size, since, anyway, they are simply huge.

Elephants are one of the most amazing animals. They especially love water treatments, watering themselves from their trunk. In general, the trunk for them is a multifunctional part of the body, since thanks to it elephants breathe, drink, grab food, smell, make sounds, wash themselves, etc.

Therefore, for an elephant, the trunk is a kind of hybrid of a nose with a hand, thanks to which it grasps, holds, moves objects, and the like. By the way, the trunk of one elephant consists of about one hundred thousand muscles. U African elephants at the end of the trunk there are two small finger-like processes, while Indian elephants have only one such “finger”.

When wondering how much an elephant weighs, it is important to consider the fact whether the elephant is hungry or well-fed. After all, according to scientists, the elephant feeds about 2/3 of the total time, i.e. about 16 hours a day. At the same time, an adult elephant absorbs 300-450 kilograms of food plant origin, washing it down with 200-300 liters of water.

Of course, young elephants are not capable of organizing such a “belly feast” for themselves, however, they can easily eat 50 - 300 kilograms of vegetation in a day, washing it down with a hundred liters of water. Regarding the question of how many tons an elephant weighs, it is important to know that the weight of an adult African elephant is up to 7 tons for males and up to 3.5 tons for females. It should be borne in mind that this is the weight of a well-fed, not a hungry animal.

What is the peculiar pride of elephants? Of course, their tusks are quite powerful. It is worth noting the fact that about a third of the size of the tusks is hidden under the skin in the body of elephants. And they grow throughout their lives, so the older the elephant, the larger the tusks it has.

And because ivory was and is still valued by humans, many elephants fall prey to poachers who kill them solely for their tusks. Today, the ivory trade is illegal, but this type of black business has not yet been completely eliminated.

How much does an elephant weigh at birth? The weight of a newborn elephant calf ranges from 85 to 120 kilograms. Moreover, he is born with a short proboscis and without tusks.

There are very interesting feature: As for the “height” of an adult elephant, the highest point of the Indian elephant is the top of the head, and the highest point of the African elephant is the shoulders.

It is worth noting that elephants are herd animals, and all individuals in the herd are related. They know how to diligently take care of their offspring; for this purpose, there are even special young females in the herd who act as “nannies.”

In this way they prepare to care for their future offspring. An interesting fact is that elephants are one of those animals that can laugh.

As for the question of how much an Indian elephant weighs, its weight is much more modest - up to 5 tons for males and about 2.5-3 tons for females.

The lifespan of elephants is approximately seventy years. However, this figure is rather arbitrary, since about 40% of males do not live to the age of fifteen years. But at the same time, there are known cases when elephants in the zoo lived to be 82 years old, so talking about average duration life doesn't exist.

But in general, for a long time It remains a mystery where the dying elephants disappear. Of course, with age, when their molars wear down, they move to places where softer food is available. However, during their study, very few skeletons were discovered, which gave rise to many legends about elephant cemeteries that are inaccessible to the human eye.

Thus, elephants are not only one of the largest animals on Earth, but also one of the most intelligent, interesting and, at the same time, mysterious. And by the way, it’s not for nothing that elephants are called smart, because the weight of an adult’s brain reaches six kilograms. Something to think about!

By far the largest of all land mammals in the world is the elephant. Some people wonder: how much does an elephant weigh? In fact, getting an exact answer to this question is quite difficult. Why? Each elephant has its own individual physical parameters. For example, the weight of a female elephant is significantly different from that of a male elephant. The weight of an adult is several times different from that of a newborn elephant. Also, the weight of this animal will be influenced by its breed, for example: Indian, African and forest. Each of them has different weight. Now let's look at how much an elephant of these breeds weighs, or rather what the facts say, and then how much a newborn elephant calf weighs.

1. Indian elephant.

The Indian elephant is a huge animal, second only to its African counterpart in size. In the ranking of the largest land mammals in the world, it ranks second. According to some facts, the height of an adult male ranges from 2.5-3.5 meters. But the weight of an adult Indian elephant reaches 5.5 tons.

1. African elephant or savannah.

The African elephant holds the status of the largest animal in the world. Its height can reach up to a record 3.5 meters, and a minimum of 2.5 meters. The weight of the male is 5 tons, and his devoted female fluctuates around 3-3.8 tons.

Interesting fact! In November 1957, the largest African elephant was shot dead in Angola. The weight of this animal was 12.2 tons. This amount exceeds the usual norm by 2.5 times.

1. forest elephant.

Of the entire family of elephants, Lesnoy is the smallest representative. Its height reaches up to 2.5 meters, and its weight, in most cases, does not exceed 2.7 tons.

So, if we summarize all of the above data and answer the question of what the weight of an elephant is, then the result will range from 2.4 to 5.5 tons.

Well, how much does a newborn elephant calf weigh? Typically, its weight will be 80-140 kg. In cases where in nature an adult elephant does not have a natural enemy, newborn elephant calves are the most vulnerable. Due to their constant hunting by predatory animals, lions or tigers, they are under the strict supervision of their mother elephant for a long period of time. However, by the age of ten, a baby elephant can safely walk alone. His height and weight are quite large, which earns him respect from other animals.

The largest living land mammals are elephants. It is not surprising that many people wonder: how many kilograms does an elephant weigh?

Unfortunately, it is impossible to give an exact answer to such vague question quite complicated: each individual elephant, like any other animal, has individual physical parameters, the weight of an adult elephant is very different from the weight of a baby elephant, female elephants are much smaller and lighter than males, and besides, elephants can be different breeds.

However, below we will try to give the most comprehensive answer to this interest Ask.

How much does an adult elephant weigh?

The weight of an adult elephant can reach more than twelve tons. However, such record holders are extremely rare. On average, the weight of an adult elephant ranges from 2.5-7 tons, with females weighing almost half as much as males.

It is interesting that with such an impressive weight, elephants are very graceful animals; the plasticity of their movements is truly impressive.

The expression “clumsy as an elephant” has nothing to do with reality, moreover, in many eastern cultures The elephant is a symbol of grace and grace.

The Russian public is accustomed to seeing elephants mainly in cages in zoos, where they are cramped and uncomfortable, apparently this is where the erroneous judgment came from. Elephant behavior in wildlife is a truly breathtaking sight; once you get acquainted with an elephant in its natural habitat, you will never again call this animal a clumsy lump.

What is the mass of a newborn baby elephant?

A newborn elephant calf can weigh from 80 to 140 kg. If an adult elephant does not have in nature natural enemies, then young elephant calves are more vulnerable and can be hunted large predators- tigers and lions, so the cubs are under the careful supervision of the mother elephant for a long time.

The growth rate and life expectancy of elephants are comparable to those of humans; elephant calves reach adult size by about 20 years.


However, even a ten-year-old elephant calf can safely walk alone without fear of attack by a predator - its size at this age is already impressive enough to evoke respectful respect among representatives of the animal world.

How much does an African elephant weigh?

African elephant genus this moment represented by two separate species: savannah elephant and forest elephant. These species do not have many differences; until recently they were considered two subspecies of the same species. At the same time, African forest elephants are significantly smaller in size than their counterparts living in the savannah.

Average weight savannah African elephant is approximately 7 tons for males and 2.8 tons for females. The body length of males of this species is from 6 to 7.5 meters, the highest point of their body (shoulders) rises above the ground by 2.4-3.5 meters.

The African savannah elephant became the weight record holder among elephants: a male shot in 1974 in Angola weighed 12.24 tons. This giant was included in the Guinness Book of Records, although posthumously. Unfortunately, the number of African elephants in Lately is steadily declining, for several reasons: hunting for ivory, displacement from habitual habitats, deterioration of environment.

How much does an Indian elephant weigh?

Indian, or Asian elephant– second largest land mammal after savannah elephant. The genus of Indian elephants is represented by three species, which in turn are divided into subspecies.

The male Indian elephant weighs on average about 5 tons, the female - about 2.7 tons. As can be seen from these data, the difference in weight of Indian and African elephants much less than the difference in the weight of their males, the same applies to the size of these animals.


The body length of a male Indian elephant is 5.5-6.4 meters. The smallest subspecies of Indian elephants lives on the island of Kalimantan, also called Borneo. The average weight of these elephants does not exceed 2 tons.