Content
- Types of elephants that inhabit the world
- savanna elephant
- forest elephant
- asian elephants
- Physical Curiosities of Elephants
- Elephant Social Curiosities
- elephant memory
- The must and the seismic forecast
Elephants are the largest mammals on the planet that live on the earth's crust. They are only surpassed in weight and size by a few of the gigantic marine mammals that inhabit the oceans.
There are two species of elephants: the african and the asian elephant, with some subspecies that inhabit different habitats. Among the interesting facts about elephants is that they are known to be animals that bring good luck.
Continue reading PeritoAnimal and learn more about the curiosities about the elephant that will interest and surprise you, whether they are related to food, daily activities or sleep habits.
Types of elephants that inhabit the world
To start, we'll explain about the three types of elephants that exist on planet Earth and then about the curiosities and peculiar elements that some of them have.
savanna elephant
In Africa there are two species of elephant: the savannah elephant, African Loxodonta, and the forest elephant, Loxodonta cyclotis.
The savanna elephant is larger than the forest elephant. There are specimens that measure up to 7 meters long and 4 meters at the withers, reaching weigh 7 tons. Elephants in the wild live for about 50 years, and they die when their last teeth wear out and can no longer chew their food. For this reason, captive elephants can live much longer as they receive more attention and healing from their caregivers.
The arrangement of the nails on its paws is as follows: 4 on the front and 3 on the back. The Savannah Elephant is an endangered species. Their biggest threats are the poachers who seek the ivory of their fangs and also the urbanization of their territories.
forest elephant
the forest elephant is smaller than that of the savanna, usually does not exceed 2.5 meters in height to the withers. The arrangement of the toenails on the legs is similar to that of Asian elephants: 5 on the front legs and 4 on the hind legs.
This species of proboscis inhabits jungles and equatorial forests, hiding in their thick vegetation. These elephants have a precious pink ivory that makes them very vulnerable on the hunt for the heartless hunters who chase them. The trade in ivory has been banned internationally for years, but the illegal trade continues and poses a major threat to the species.
asian elephants
There are four subspecies of Asian elephant: the Ceylon elephant, Elephas Maximusmaxim; the indian elephant, Elephas maximus indicus; the Sumatran elephant, Elephas Maximussumatrensis; and the Borneo pygmy elephant, Elephas maximus borneensis.
The morphological differences between Asian and African elephants are remarkable. Asian elephants are smaller: between 4 to 5 meters, and 3.5 meters to the withers. His ears are visibly smaller and on his spine he has a slight hump. The tusks are smaller and the females do not have fangs.
Asian elephants are in serious danger of extinction. Although there are many of them domesticated, with the fact that in a captive state they almost never reproduce and that the advance of agriculture reduces their natural habitat, their existence is seriously threatened.
Physical Curiosities of Elephants
Continuing our list of elephant trivia, you should know that elephant ears are large, vascularly irrigated organs that ensure effective thermoregulation. In this way, your ears help them dissipate body heat or have you never noticed how they fan their ears for air?
The trunk is another organ distinct from elephants, which serves multiple functions: bathing, catching food and holding it to its mouth, uprooting trees and bushes, cleaning the eyes or throw dirt on your back to deworm. Plus, the trunk has over 100 different muscles, isn't that amazing?
The elephant's legs are very particular and resemble strong columns that support the gigantic mass of its body. Elephants walk at a speed of 4-6 km/h, but if they are angry or running away, they can move at more than 40 km/h. Also, it is interesting to mention that, despite having four legs, their enormous weight does not allow them to jump.
Elephant Social Curiosities
elephants live in herds of related females between you and your offspring. Male elephants leave the herd when they reach adolescence and live in isolated or solitary groups. Adults approach the herds when they notice females in heat.
Another of the best curiosities about the elephant is the fact that the old female be the matriarch which takes the herd to new sources of water and new pastures. Adult elephants consume about 200 kg of leaves daily, so they need to continually move in search of areas with new foods available. Learn more about elephant feeding in this article.
Elephants use different sounds to communicate or express their mood. To call themselves from a distance, they use infrasounds not audible by humans.
Through the soles of their feet, they feel the infrasound vibrations before hearing them with their ears (sound travels faster through the ground than through the air). The time difference between picking up vibrations and hearing the sound allows you to calculate the direction and distance of the call very accurately.
elephant memory
Elephant brain weighs 5 kg and it is the greatest among terrestrial beings. In it, the memory area covers a large part. For this reason, the elephants have a great memory. Furthermore, elephants are capable of expressing different feelings such as joy and sadness.
There is a famous case that surprised everyone because of the elephant's memory capacity. In a television report in which they reported the incorporation of a female elephant into a city zoo. At one point, the microphone used by the journalist was attached, emitting an annoying beeping sound very close to the elephant. She was frightened and, enraged, began to chase the announcer, who had to throw himself into the ditch that surrounded the fenced perimeter of the facility to escape danger.
Years later, the television crew covered another news story in that room. For a few seconds, the presenter stood beside some bars that formed a side door of the elephant facility, spotting in the distance the female with which the announcer had the problem.
Surprisingly, the elephant caught a stone from the ground with its trunk and, in a quick movement, threw it with great force against the television crew, missing the speaker's body by millimeters. This is a memory sample, in this case rancorous, that elephants have.
The must and the seismic forecast
the must is a strange eventual madness that male Asian elephants can suffer cyclically. During these periods, they become very dangerous, attacking anything or anyone that comes close to them. "Domesticated" elephants must remain chained by one leg to a huge tree for as long as the must last. It's a terrible and stressful practice for them.
Elephants, as well as other animal species, are sensitive to natural disasters, being able to intuit them in advance.
In the year 2004, there was an extraordinary case in Thailand. During a tourist excursion, the elephants employed began to cry and, with their trunks, began to pick up the surprised tourists, depositing them in the large baskets on their loins. After that, they fled to the highlands, saving the humans from the terrible tsunami that ravaged the entire area over Christmas.
This proves that, despite the human being having submitted this beautiful and enormous animal, he managed to help him in certain moments of history.
To learn more about an elephant's curiosity, check out our article on how long an elephant's gestation lasts.