elephant species and their description

1. ELEPHANT
by: Gul Muhammad
FVAS Gomal University DI Khan Pk

2. Classification

3. ELEPHANT
Largest living land mammals.
At birth calf weigh about 100 kg (225 pounds).
Gestation period 20 to 22 months (640__660 days).
Longest gestation period among land animals.

4. Conti….
Male elephants are called bulls.
 Females are called cows.
A Baby elephant is called calf.
Group of elephants is called herd.
The oldest mother in group is called
matriarch.

5. Conti…
In the wild, elephants have
strong family relationship
They "talk" to each other with very
low sounds.
Most elephants sounds are so low, people
cannot hear them. But elephants can hear
these sounds far away.
Elephants have strong, leathery skin to protect
themselves.

6. Species of Elephants
 African bush elephant
 African forest elephant
 Asian elephant.

7. Mass
Asian elephant: 12,000 lbs,
African bush elephant: 13,000 lbs,
 African forest elephant: 6,000 lbs

8. Life span
: Asian elephant: 48 years
 African bush elephant: 60 – 70 years
African forest elephant: 60 – 70 years

9. Height
Asian elephant: 8.9 ft
 African bush elephant: 11 ft
African forest elephant: 8.2 ft

10. Comparison of African and Asiatic elephant

12. Facts about elephant
 Elephants live in family groups called HERDS.
 Male elephant called bulls and females are
called cows
 Herds are made up of all the mother
elephants and their babies.
 The oldest mother is called the MATRIARCH
who is the leader of the herd.
 Female elephants stay in their herds for life,
but the male elephants leave between the
ages of 7 and 12.

13. Elephants love and support their families just as
we do.
A baby elephant is called a calf.
When born stand only 3 ft tall.
Stay very close to their mothers for the first few
months.
Start to eat plants from about four months.
Drink mother milk for about 2 years
 At first, baby elephants do not know how to
use their trunks and can even step on them.

14. From 6-8 months, they learn to use their
trunk to eat and drink and by the time
they are a year old, they can use their
trunks very well.

15. Food and water
 Plant eaters or HERBIVORES.
 Eat leaves, roots, grasses, bark and fruits.
 Spend 16-20 hours a day eating.
 Use their trunks to get fruit and leaves.
 They use their trunks to pull down trees .
 An adult can eat 300 lbs. (136 kg) of food in a
day, according to the National Geographic

16. Elephants drink water only once or twice
a day.
Elephants drink 25-50 gallons of water a
day so they depend on available water
sources in their habitat.

17. Dung of elephant
Elephants can leave behind almost 300
pounds of dung every day!

18. Elephant legs are Graviportal
Elephant walks on 5 toes & heel pad.
Elephants move long distances for food,
for water, for sex, maybe for fun.
Elephants don’t run mostly.
Typical elephant walk is like brisk human
walk.
Fastest walk is like top human sprint.

19. Trunk
The trunk, or proboscis, is a fusion of the nose
and upper lip.
The trunk is elongated and specialized to
become the elephant's most important
appendage.
 It contains up to 150,000 separate muscle
fascicles, with no bone and little fat.

20. Uses of trunk
 As a tool
 Grazing & browsing
 Manipulating objects
 Moving water
 As a sense organ
 Touch
 Smell
 As a social-signaling organ
 A trumpet that amplifies vocalizations
 A bearer of visual signals
 A touch-communicator

21. Tusks
Tusks are elongated, continuously growing
front teeth.
They are most commonly canine teeth
Male tusks are larger than female
Weight of tusks is about 50 kg.

22. Function of tusks
Use in defense against attackers.
For digging
For boring

23. A group of
elephants is called a herd or parade