Largest Land Mammal

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

What do you know about elephants?

• The tip of the African elephant trunk has two opposable extensions which act like fingers.
• The trunk of an elephant has something like 40,000 muscles and tendons.
• Elephants are born with ‘baby tusks’ which fall out and are replaced with permanent adult tusks which grow throughout life. 
• Elephants preferentially use their left or right tusk like people who are left or right-handed. 
• One molar of an adult can weigh 5 pounds. 
• Elephants don't have very good eyesight but on average they can hear calls of others from 2.5 miles away. 
• Elephants use their tusks and feet to sense vibrations and to "hear" better. 
• Elephants care for the wounded and grieve the dead.
• To greet returning friends, elephants spin in circles, flap their ears and trumpet.
• African savanna elephants have tusks that curve while African forest elephants have tusks pointing straight downward.
• Elephants are very wrinkly and have sparse hair across the body.
• Their skin can be an inch thick. 
• African elephants can live to be 70 years old in the wild.
• The African elephant population is estimated at around 470,000 individuals, however, numbers in the last century were estimated to be between 3 and 5 million. 
• Elephant pregnancies are the longest of any mammals, a full 22 months. Females (cows) generally have a single calf every 2 to 4 years. 
• At birth, baby elephants already measure 3 feet (1 meter) in height and weight a massive 200 pounds (91 kilograms).
• Their huge ears help keep African elephants cool in the African sunshine by radiating heat. 
• Elephant trunks can be used for smelling, breathing, trumpeting, drinking and grabbing things.

For some fun facts about elephants, click here.

When Will and I went to Africa a few years ago, I fell in love with the wildlife. Where we might see squirrels running around the yard there might be mongooses. In the game refuge we saw kudu and other antelope, zebras, hyenas, ostriches, birds, etc. My top three favorite, though, were the giraffes, the lions, and the elephants. 

One day while we were there, we drove out to the savanna to see what the animals were doing. We came across a herd of elephants at a watering hole. We just sat and watched them for awhile. 

One baby tried to nurse from the wrong mom. It didn't go over well. 

Two adolescents did a little sparring. One got knocked down but hope right back up to go at it again. 

One came over to check us out and stood a "trunk's distance" from the front of our vehicle. He waved his ears a little and sized us up. We sat very still as you can imagine. After a few minutes he went back to be with the others. 

What magnificent creatures elephants are. Simply magnificent. 

Lord, I love your creativity. You've made some pretty incredible creatures, not the least of which is the elephant. Thank you for blessing us with them.