Elephants are the biggest and strongest of all land living animals With their trunks tusks and giant ears they look like no other animal 3 The African elephant is the largest land animal Its long trunk and large ears make it unmistakable As well as being powerful elephants are intelligent They have large brains that grow through youth making them very good at learning In fact they display some behaviors seen in few other animals Elephants are mammals like we are They make caring mothers showing great care toward their young There are two different types species of elephants One type lives in Africa and the other lives in Asia Introduction
5 ELEPHANTS Using tools Elephants often use tools Wild elephants have been seen using twigs and branches to brush away flies or scratch themselves Elephants are the only animals apart from monkeys and other primates that can throw things Using their trunk like an arm they sometimes pick up objects and hurl them at other animals or people Elephants are social animals They all spend at least part of their lives in groups Some elephants never leave the groups they were born into In this book you will learn all about how elephants live together Later on you will find out more about just what makes them such special animals 2 This Asian elephant has just used its trunk to suck up some water for a drink The elephant’s trunk An elephant’s trunk is a combination of its nose and its upper lip It contains lots of different muscles making it flexible and easy to maneuver Elephants use their trunks to pick up food suck up water caress one another fight smell and make trumpeting calls
Elephant herds Most elephants live in groups called herds The basic elephant herd is an extended family of female elephants and their young Adult male called bull elephants usually live alone but sometimes they live in temporary herds of their own They only join the female herds when they are looking for a mate The females in the basic elephant herd are always related They spend their whole lives together and the bonds between them are strong They help each other raise and protect the young they 1 Female elephants with their calves Most females in a herd are related and they help each other care for the young travel together and they feed as a group Herd members rarely move more than 50 yards 15m apart Big and small herds African elephant herds range from two to about 24 animals Sometimes herds of related female elephants join to form groups of 50 or so members called clans Asian elephants have smaller herds of usually ten or fewer animals If herds get too big they split in two
2 Adult and calf Asian elephants have a cooling bathe in a river Bathing is a favorite activity for elephants 7 ELEPHANTS Washing off and dusting down Elephants enjoy bathing When they reach a river or watering hole they often wade right in before even taking a drink Bathing cleans the skin and cools the elephants It also gives youngsters an excuse to play These herds often meet with a lot of excitement and friendly trumpeting noises Elephant herds do not always stay in the same place but each does have certain areas where it can often be found These areas may be shared with other herds The leader of the herd The leader of the herd is the matriarch She is the oldest and largest female She makes decisions that affect the others The matriarch leads the herd to find new feeding grounds When she stops to feed the rest of the herd stops with her
