Part of the Family A baby elephant is part of a family before it is born The baby grows inside its mother for twenty two months Then the mother elephant gives birth An elephant family gathers around a baby elephant after it is born and makes excited noises
Calves have very short trunks The new baby is called a calf Like its mother the calf has wrinkly gray skin and two large ears Some babies have a lot of hair
calves are much smaller than their mothers The calf weighs around 200 pounds 90 kilograms That's about as much as a grown man The mother elephant weighs between 7,000 and 10000 pounds 3,200 and 4,500 kilograms as much as two cars
The baby stands 3 feet 1 meter tall But the calf still has a lot of growing to do Its mother measures 8 to 9 feet 2 to 3 meters from the ground to her shoulders She would touch the ceiling in most houses Calves are already taller than a table when they are born
