Fun Facts About Elephants

By
Miranda B
-

Elephants are so adorable with their long trunks and big ears. But how much do you actually know about the biggest land animals on Earth? Here are some interesting facts about elephants you may not know.

They Eat a Lot

These giant animals spend most of their day eating! Elephants spend 12 to 18 hours every single day eating various foods such as fruit, grass, plants, and leaves. An adult elephant eats around 150kg of food every day.

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Mukkoka is getting very curious about the wild world around him. One morning, a wagtail bird flew by and surprised the little bull. He raised his ears and began to charge at the bird, but the wagtail just ignored him. This seemed to bother Mukkoka even more, and he trumpeted loudly at the interloper until it flew to a branch out of sight. Later in the day, Mukkoka encountered a tortoise — and this surprise was just too much for him to handle. He charged around in fear, and didn’t stop until his older friend Musiara came over and calmed him down! Every day, our Keepers lead the orphaned elephants out into the surrounding wilderness. These jaunts help the orphans become comfortable with their surrounding environment and the other creatures who call it home. For youngsters like Mukkoka, every day really is a new adventure! To learn more about him and the other orphans in our care, click our link in bio 🐘 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ _________ Photo © David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust #SheldrickTrust #DSWT #Mukkoka #elephant #kenya #whyilovekenya #bekindtoelephants #herd #adopt #charity

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Longest Gestation

African elephants carry their young for 22 months and Asian elephants from 18 to 22 months before they give birth. They have the longest gestation period among mammals.

Tusks

Did you know that elephant tusks never stop growing? This means that you can easily determine an elephant’s age by just looking at their tusks.

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Photo by @daisygilardini | Have you ever wondered why elephants have hair? You can see from this picture they have hair even on their trunk… long hair! According to a paper from Princeton Environmental Institute professor Elie Bou-Zeid and researchers Conor Myhrovold and Howard Stone published in the peer-reviewed journal PLoS One, an elephant's sparse hair helps the animal dissipate heat more efficiently. Thermoregulation, the process that allows one's body to maintain its core internal temperature, is key for elephants, because of the elephant's body volume to skin surface ratio. Hair works by creating more area for heat to be released. The Princeton study showed that when the wind is low, when elephants tend to overheat, the hair acts like pin-shaped cooling fins, increasing convection cooling efficiency by 24 percent. Follow me @DaisyGilardini for more images and stories behind the scenes. #Botswana #ChobeNationalPark #elephant

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Sunblock

When it’s very hot, elephants cover themselves in mud and sand to protect their skin from the sun, so in a way, this is their own sunscreen.

They’re Extremely Intelligent

Elephants are very smart creatures and, after great apes such as gorillas, chimpanzees, and orangutans, they’re considered to be the most intelligent animals.