What do we know about elephants? Asian elephants: description, features, lifestyle, nutrition and interesting facts Brief facts about elephants

Few animals on our planet have been mourned, mythologised, and extolled as much as Africa and Asia. In this article, you will learn 10 interesting and amazing facts about elephants, from how these thick-skinned mammals use their trunks to how long females carry their young.

1. There are 3 different living species of elephants

bush elephant

All representatives of the elephant family are divided into 3 species: African bush elephant ( Loxodonta africana), African forest elephant ( Loxodonta cyclotis) and Asian or Indian elephant ( Elephas maximus ). African elephants are much larger than Asian elephants and adult males can weigh up to 7 tons (which makes them ). The Asian elephant weighs a little less, about 5 tons.

Incidentally, the African forest elephant was once thought to be a subspecies of the African bush elephant, but genetic analysis suggests that the two elephant species diverged somewhere between two and seven million years ago.

2. The elephant's trunk is a universal part of the body

Aside from its huge size, the most prominent part of an elephant's body is its trunk, which looks like an extremely elongated nose and upper lip. Elephants not only use their trunks to breathe, smell and eat, they can grab tree branches, lift objects weighing up to 350 kg, stroke other elephants, dig the ground for water and shower themselves. contains more than 100,000 muscle fibers, which make it an amazingly delicate and precise instrument, for example, an elephant can use its trunk to peel a peanut without damaging the kernel located inside, or wipe dirt from its eyes, or clean other parts of the body.

3 Ears Help Elephants Cool Down

Considering how huge they are and the hot, humid climate elephants live in, these animals have adapted to regulate their body temperature in the process. An elephant can't flap its ears to fly (a la Disney's Dumbo), however big square the surface of its ears contains a dense network of blood vessels that radiate heat into and thus help to cool the body in the blazing sun. Not surprisingly, elephants' large ears have another evolutionary advantage: ideal conditions an African or Asian elephant can hear the call of a sick relative from a distance of more than 8 km, as well as the approach of any that may threaten the cubs of the herd.

4. Elephants are extremely intelligent animals

In the truest sense of the word, elephants weigh up to 5.5 kg in adult males, compared to 1-2 kg for the average human (however, the brain of an elephant is much smaller than a human, in terms of body weight). Elephants not only know how to use their trunk as a tool, but also demonstrate a high degree self-awareness (for example, recognizing oneself in a mirror) and empathy for other members of the herd. Some elephants even stroked the bones of their dead relatives, although naturalists disagree whether this proves a primitive understanding of death.

5. The main female in the herd

Elephants have developed a unique social structure: in fact, males and females live completely separately, meeting only briefly during the breeding season. Three or four females, along with their cubs, gather in a herd (about 12 individuals), while males either live alone or form smaller herds with other males (savannah elephants sometimes gather in larger groups of more than 100 individuals) . Female herds have a matriarchal structure: all representatives follow the leader (the oldest female), and when the main female dies, the next oldest female elephant takes her place. Like humans (at least in most cases), experienced females are renowned for their wisdom and teaching other members of the herd.

6. Pregnancy in a female lasts almost 2 years

At African elephants longest gestation period of all land mammals, it is 22 months (although among those that have the longest period of gestation, the leader is the frilled shark, whose gestation period exceeds 2 years, and according to some reports it is at least 3.5 years!) Newborn elephants weigh more than 100 kg at birth. The female brings offspring every 4-5 years.

7 Elephants Have Evolved Over 50 Million Years

Elephants and their ancestors used to be much more common than they are today. As far as fossil evidence can tell, the ultimate progenitor of all elephants was a tiny, pig-like phosphaterium ( Phosphatherium) who lived in North Africa about 50 million years ago. Tens of millions of years later, by late, more recognizable "elephant hamsters" such as phiomias ( Phiomia) and bariteria ( Barytherium) represented pachyderms on land. By later, some branches of the elephant family were characterized by their false lower fangs, and the golden age was, a million years ago, when the North American mastodon and woolly roamed the expanses North America and Eurasia. Today, oddly enough, the closest living relatives of elephants are dugongs and manatees.

8. Elephants are an important part of their ecosystems

Like it or not, elephants have an important influence on them. They uproot trees, compact the ground under their feet, and even deliberately widen water holes to take relaxing baths. Such activities benefit not only the elephants themselves, but also other animals that take advantage of these habitat changes. For example, African elephants are known to dig caves on the sides of Mount Elgon on the Kenya/Uganda border, which are then used as shelter. bats, insects and more small mammals. When elephants eat in one place and defecate in another, they function as important seed carriers. Many plants, trees and shrubs will find it difficult to survive if their seeds are not present in elephant dung.

9 Elephants Were Used In War

There is nothing more impressive than a five-ton elephant adorned with elaborate armor, with sharp spears attached to its tusks. The use of animals in warfare was a way of instilling fear in the enemy - or at least nothing else existed over 2,000 years ago when pachyderms were drafted into the ranks of armies. The use of war elephants peaked around 400-300 BC. and continued until the invasion of Rome through the Alps in 217 BC. After that, elephants were still used in the civilizations of the Mediterranean basin, and were also common among Indian and Asian warlords. However, at the end of the 15th century, when gunpowder began to be used, the elephant could easily fall after being shot.

10. Elephants continue to be endangered by the ivory trade.

Elephants, like other defenseless animals, face many threats: pollution, habitat destruction and the encroachment of human civilization. They are especially vulnerable to poachers, who value these mammals for the ivory contained in their tusks. In 1990, a worldwide ban on the ivory trade resulted in the conservation of some African elephant populations, but poachers in Africa continued to defy the law. One positive development is China's recent decision to ban the import and export of ivory; it didn't completely eliminate poaching by ruthless ivory traders, but it certainly helped. Elephants are currently endangered.

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Very high intelligence and a good memory, as a result of which they are easy to train.

Elephants used to be used for military purposes, but today they are depicted on money, logos famous brands, as well as on coats of arms and flags.

In this article, you will learn Interesting Facts about elephants in general, as well as about their physical and moral characteristics in particular.

how long do elephants live

Before answering this question, it is important to decide in what conditions the elephant lives.

For example, free elephants live for about 60 years. But in captivity they live up to 80 years of age.

This is due to the fact that in the wild elephants constantly face dangers, natural disasters and poaching.

An interesting fact is that one of the most famous elephants named Lin Wang lived for 86 years. Thanks to this, he got into the Guinness Book of Records as an elephant that lived in captivity. the largest number years.

Lin Wang participated in military operations and performed at the circus arena, but spent most of his life at the zoo.

elephant pregnancy

Interesting facts related to elephant pregnancy are very popular, so let's deal with the main provisions of this issue.

First of all, it must be said that the female elephant can only become pregnant on certain days of the year, although they can mate at any time. Pregnancy in an elephant lasts longer than in all land mammals, and is as much as 22 months.

A newborn baby elephant weighs about 100 kg and is born completely blind. The next 10 years of his life, he is still considered small, and needs constant protection.

Only after reaching the age of 15, elephants can live independently and create their own families.

What do elephants eat

As a rule, elephants eat leaves and grass. However, during the dry and rainy season, fruits, berries and even tree bark can also become food for them.

Under natural conditions, these giants eat approximately 300 kg of vegetation daily. Elephants spend about 16 hours a day searching for and eating food.

However, in captivity, they eat half, and sometimes three times less. Elephants are happy to eat vegetables, bread and even cereals.

Elephants, for the normal functioning of the body, need a lot of fluid, so they drink 100-300 liters of water per day.

When they are sick, they drink even more.

Trunk, tusks and ears

Below are interesting facts about the most visible parts of the body of elephants.

• An elephant's trunk does not have a nasal bone.
• Due to the fact that the elephant's trunk consists of 150,000 different muscles, it has extremely high flexibility and strength.
• At one time, an elephant can collect 6-8 liters of water with its trunk, in order to then pour it into its mouth.
• An elephant easily lifts up to 300 kg with its trunk.
• The length of the trunk is approximately 1.5 meters.
• Thanks to the trunk, elephants manage to swim across rivers easily and simply. To do this, they are completely immersed in water, and the trunk is held high above the surface.
• If elephants have to dig something or carry heavy objects, they, in addition to the trunk, also use tusks. The length of the tusks is from 2 to 2.5 m, with a weight of about 100 kg.
• The ear of an elephant weighs 80-90 kg, and is an excellent temperature regulator for this animal. During the hot part of the day, elephants flap their ears to the sides to avoid overheating. In cold weather, on the contrary, they try to press their ears to the body in order to keep warm longer.

Are elephants afraid of mice?

An interesting fact is that there is a strong opinion that elephants are afraid of mice. The legend says that the elephant is afraid that the mouse would not get into his trunk, and would not violate the main processes of life.

For the first time, such a statement was made by the Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder. However, modern scientists have completely dispelled this myth.

In fact, elephants are simply annoyed by any sudden movements near them. That is, if the mouse sat in one place, it would in no way disturb the elephant.

smart animals

Scientists have proven that elephants have an extremely developed self-awareness and an extremely good memory. Moreover, they, like dolphins and monkeys, are able to distinguish their reflection in the mirror.

As for memory, one interesting fact cannot be ignored. The fact is that elephants accurately remember the many kilometers of paths they walk along, and then walk along them for a long time.

Elephant intelligence

• The brain of an elephant weighs about 5 kg, which makes it the largest among animals.
• Elephants are capable of experiencing a variety of things. Therefore, joy, sorrow and compassion are all well known to them.
• Elephants are highly trainable and can follow many commands from humans.
• Through ultrasound, elephants can warn their relatives of various dangers.
• An interesting fact is that elephants have their own burial ritual. When one of the members of the herd dies, his fellow tribesmen throw earth and stones at the dead body. After that, they sit next to the deceased for several more days, thus expressing their grief.

Some more interesting facts about elephants

1. Did you know that an elephant's sense of smell is 4 times better than a bloodhound's?
2. However, the vision of these mammals is much worse. An elephant can see any object at a maximum distance of 25 m. In ancient times, hunters sat on a tamed elephant and penetrated into the middle of the herd in order to look out for a victim.
3. The heart of an elephant beats at a speed of 30 beats per minute, and weighs about 25 kg.
4. In the past, elephants were used for combat purposes. Their formidable appearance and gigantic size terrified the enemy. However, then inventive minds came up with an antidote: they smeared the pigs with a combustible substance, set them on fire, and sent them to the elephants. The screech of pigs and the frantic speed with which the pigs rushed towards the elephants led the latter into a panic.
5. Elephants renew their teeth every 10 years.
6. By one working tusk, you can determine whether the elephant is right-handed or left-handed.
7. Elephants spend only about 3 hours a day sleeping, and spend the rest of the time in search of food.
8. Males prefer to live alone, while female elephants live in families.
9. If the herd of elephants begins to starve, then the female elephants separate from it and look for food on their own.
10. On average, in her entire life, an elephant gives birth to about 9 cubs.
11. And this is a very interesting fact. Females do not give birth to their young alone. During childbirth, another elephant is always present, who immediately takes the newborn away so that the mother does not accidentally crush him.
12. Elephants have the ability to hear sounds through the vibration of their legs at a distance of 50 km.
13. An elephant's tooth weighs 3 kg.
14. Immediately after birth, baby elephants do not know how to control their trunk. And only at the age of two, this thing begins to obey them.
15. If an elephant falls ill, his relatives take care of him and bring him food.
16. If an elephant accidentally finds a lonely baby elephant, he will “adopt” him, and not leave one to certain death.
17. When an elephant's teeth wear out, it dies.
18. The pattern of veins on elephants' ears is unique and can be compared to a human fingerprint.
19. Thanks to their good memory, elephants can long years remember your offenders and, if necessary, take revenge on them. So do not offend these crumbs.
20. Elephants cannot jump.
21. An interesting fact: only an elephant, among all animals, can stand on its head.
22. Fun fact: Elephants like to drink beer, and they even know how to make their own mash. To do this, they throw various fruits into the pit, and then wait until they begin to ferment.
23. Elephants are unpredictable and can attack for no apparent reason. Therefore, no matter how cute the animals seem to us, remember that in the wild there are their own laws, which in no case should be violated.

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Did you know that there are only three types of elephants left that still live today? These are the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant and the Indian elephant. All other varieties have already disappeared from the face of the Earth. In this collection you will find some interesting facts about elephants.

Elephants are the largest living land animals in the world. The largest elephant ever recorded was shot in Angola in 1956. This male weighed approximately 11,000 kg, with a height of 3.96 meters, a meter taller than the average African male elephant.

The gestation period for a female elephant is 22 months, which is longer than any land animal. At birth, the cub weighs an average of 120 kilograms. They usually live for 50 to 70 years, but the oldest recorded elephant was 82 years old. In healthy adult elephants natural enemies predators, although lions may attack cubs or weak individuals.

With a mass of just over 5 kg, an elephant's brain is larger than that of any other land animal. They have a wide variety of emotions and feelings, including grief, altruism, playfulness, compassion, and self-awareness. They hear music and can even use musical instruments as well as drawing.


Elephants live in a structured social order. Public life males and females are very different. Females spend most of their time in close-knit family groups consisting of mothers, daughters, sisters, and aunts. These groups are led by an older female elephant, or matriarch. Adult males, on the other hand, live mostly solitary lives.


An elephant's fangs are its second upper incisors, which grow continuously. The fangs of an adult male grow by about 18 cm per year. They are used to rip out water, salt and roots, strip bark from trees, extract baobab pulp, and clear trees and branches to clear the path. In addition, they are used to establish territory, and sometimes as weapons.


The elephant's trunk is a fusion of the nose and upper lip, elongated and specialized to become the animal's most important and versatile appendage. African elephants boast two finger-like appendages at the tip of their trunks, while Asian elephants only have one. An elephant's trunk is sensitive enough to pick up a single blade of grass from the ground, yet strong enough to uproot a tree. The trunk is also used for drinking. Elephants suck up up to 14 liters of water at a time and then transfer it to their mouths. Animals also use their trunks to spray water on their bodies while bathing. In addition to this cool shower, the animals spray mud, which dries and acts as sunscreen. During swimming, the trunk acts as a breathing tube.

Elephants swim well but cannot jump or gallop. They really only have two gait options: walking and a faster gait that is similar to running.


African elephants currently live in 37 African countries. They are distinguished from Indian elephants in several ways, most notably by their much larger ears. In addition, the African elephant is generally larger than the Indian elephant and has a concave back. In Indian elephants, only males have fangs, while in African elephants, all individuals are equipped with fangs.









Elephants are herbivores and spend up to 16 hours a day looking for food. Their diets are highly variable, depending on the season and habitat. They primarily feed on leaves, bark, fruits of trees and bushes, but may also eat significant amounts of grass.

There are about 500 thousand African elephants in the world and approximately 35-50 thousand Asian ones. These large intelligent animals have served man for peaceful and military purposes since ancient times. Aristotle wrote about them: "The elephant is an amazing animal that surpasses the rest in wit and intelligence."

Some general facts

Elephants are the largest of all land animals, their weight reaches 5 tons, and the length of the body is up to 7 meters. Although there were champions, so in Angola in 1956 they killed African elephant which weighed 11 tons.
. The brain of an elephant weighs 5 kg, and the heart is about 30 kg. Normal frequency beats - 30 beats per minute.
. Elephants live up to 70 years, but there are also centenarians. For example, a war elephant from China lived to be 86 years old and died in 2003.
. In nature, elephants have to look for food almost the whole day. On the day they eat from 45 to 450 kg of vegetation and drink up to 300 liters of water.

The most expressive part of the face - the trunk is actually a continuation of the upper lip. Elephants greet with their trunks, take objects, wash themselves and even draw.

In the trunk of an adult animal, almost a bucket of water can fit, in addition, there are more than 45 thousand olfactory receptors, so elephants have a very good sense of smell.

Like humans, elephants are right-handed and left-handed. For example, a right-handed elephant works more with its right tusk, so it is an order of magnitude smaller than the left one.
. Tusks grow in elephants throughout their lives and are an indicator of age. In addition to length, they can also differ in shape and location.
. The tusks grow at a rate of 18 meters per year.

Because of the excellent appetite, the teeth of an elephant wear out very quickly, so they change during their life not twice, like in humans and most animals, but up to 7 times.
. When the last teeth wear out, the herd helps the elephant to feed, and loners, as a rule, die of hunger.

Elephants are thick-skinned in the truest sense of the word. The thickness of the skin in some places reaches 4 cm.
. Elephants are great swimmers, but I can't run or jump. They have two types of gait: simple walking and brisk walking. Their usual speed of movement is 2-6 km / h, in case of danger they can “scatter” up to 40 km / h.

Family

Elephants are family animals, and several families often stray into one herd, in which matriarchy always reigns. The oldest and most experienced female elephant becomes the head of the herd. Young elephants live in a family with their parents until the age of 15, and then create their own.

Elephants mate all year round, but the female can conceive a baby only a few days a year. During this period, males are especially active in courting her, resorting to mating games and rituals. If the female likes it, she responds with the same actions.

The elephant bears her cub for 22 months, the newborn baby elephant weighs almost 120 kg.

Taming of the Shrew

Undoubtedly, elephants are very smart animals, but at the same time they are quite dangerous, especially males during a hormonal surge. At this time, their testosterone levels rise 60 times. Obedience and obedience from elephants can only be achieved by education and training from early childhood.

There is one common method. The leg of a small elephant is tied to a tree trunk, growing up, the animal gets used to the fact that it is impossible to free itself from this state. Therefore, it is enough to tie an adult elephant to a young bush, he will not try to escape.

Funeral rite

When one of their herds dies, the elephants loudly trumpet it to the whole district, and then roll the body to the nearest recess, cover it with branches and sprinkle it with earth. Some elephants can sit near the body for several days. You can also find references to the fact that elephants take tusks and some bones from the burial place and transfer them to the place of death of a fellow elephant. There have been cases when elephants tried to bury other dead animals or people.

Elephant graveyard?

The tusks of dead elephants are very rarely found, which is why it used to be that animals die on a mysterious elephant graveyard. Where it is located and what it looks like could only be assumed, but in the last century scientists debunked this myth. It turns out that elephant tusks are eaten by porcupines, thus replenishing their mineral reserves after the rainy season.

Who is speaking? Elephant!

It is believed that elephants communicate with each other using infrasound, therefore for a long time their conversation was a mystery. A recent study by a scientist from Vienna proved that elephants use their vocal cords to communicate. At the same time, their "vocabulary" is very diverse, the scientist counted almost 500 different stable sound signals.

Some elephants can imitate human speech. For example, an elephant named Koshek was able to learn as many as 5 words: sit, hello, no, lie down and good, though in Korean. And according to eyewitnesses, he does not just repeat sounds, he speaks very consciously in the right situation.

In ancient times, elephants were common to large territories planets. But so far they have been able to survive only on the African continent and in some Asian countries. Animals are divided into two known species- African and Indian.

In turn, two subspecies live in Africa - the forest elephant and the savanna. The main difference between the species is in the shape of the ears: in the first they are rounded, and in the second they look like triangles. The Indian elephant is the smallest of them, he has small tusks and ears, in addition, he is the owner of two protruding bumps on his forehead. In addition, they walk with a straighter head than their relatives from the savannah, they do not have a protruding upper lip. And female Indian elephants are distinguished from males by the absence of tusks, in which they are sometimes more than a meter in length.

These animals, despite their enormous growth and great power, for the most part quite peaceful and kind. Plus, elephants are very smart. They always attract the attention of people of all ages. But of course, interesting facts about elephants for children are especially curious.

Uncle Jumbo is a giant

most famous and big elephant name is Jumbo. He was born at the end of the nineteenth century, then he was sold to a French zoo. After that, he spent some time in the UK Zoo. His popularity among the inhabitants of this country was truly enormous.

When it was decided to send him to the United States, British Queen received 100,000 letters from children asking them not to separate them from the elephant. In America, an elephant died when he was just over 20 years old. The age is young for this animal, but death occurred as a result of a tragic accident. The height of Jumbo reached four meters.

African elephant, interesting facts for children

• An animal disturbed by something can run at a speed of up to 50 km / h, while its tail is raised - a kind of signal to the herd about danger.
• Elephants are excellent swimmers.
• The heaviest elephant on record was taken in Africa in 1974, weighing 12.2 tons. More about the weight of elephants different types can be read in the article.

Oh, and appetite!

The gluttony of an elephant can be envied, for a day he eats an average of 3 centners plant food. To get enough, he needs to search for food and spend time on food for almost a day - only 4 hours he rests.

At the same time, he sleeps without lying on the ground, with the exception of the sick and the young. He also needs a large amount of water, of course, here the volumes can vary greatly from what the humidity will be. However, on average, this amount is 200 liters per day.

"Ears" on top

Another interesting fact about the African elephant is its large ears. So, in an adult animal, they reach 2 meters in length and 4 in width. Such huge ears are not even a mistake or a mockery of nature. This is not even explained by the fact that they allow him to hear well.

They have another, no less important role- help the elephant in hot weather. Having such colossal ears, the elephant uses them instead of a fan - methodically swings them and thereby creates a chill for himself. Which is very important when he wanders under the merciless African sun.

Who is there in the mirror? I!!!

Elephants are considered one of the most intelligent creatures on the planet. Even in ancient times, he spoke of them as animals superior to all others in intelligence and wit.

In addition to the amazing ability to have fun, grieve, compassion, master the commands of the trainer, he is able to recognize himself in the mirror. And this only indicates that elephants have a sense of self-awareness.

Hug, brother, trunks

Elephants, like people, express greetings to each other. But if a person has a hand for this action, then in the communication of these animals a very significant role of tactile contact is played by the trunk.

He helps them express their feelings. It is this organ, with which they wrap themselves around each other and stroke, that can say a lot about the intentions of an elephant's comrade or girlfriend.

Hold on to your tail, baby!

Elephants are not only kind animals. In addition to the fact that they are able to express their feelings with greetings, they are always ready to help their relative, not to mention children. Researchers have repeatedly observed such a feature from the life of elephants as helping their loved ones.

Any elephant from the herd who sees a fallen baby elephant will definitely come to the rescue and do everything possible to get him up. It is amazing and touching to watch little elephants clinging to the tail of elephants with their trunks, as if human babies are holding on to their mother's hand.

Jumping for joy

They also talk about amazing ability express emotional experiences. It is natural for animals to feel sad when they notice that things are not going smoothly in their community. They can sincerely rejoice when a baby elephant is born, they literally jump for joy.

Elephants lead a herd life and suffer from separation anxiety. When an elephant loses her baby for some reason, she suffers for 20 years. Elephants worry if someone in the herd gets sick and dies. But this should be said separately and a little later. Amazing Phenomenon when animals smile, and they are capable of this.

Talk to me, elephant

The brain of elephants weighs more than five kilograms, it is more complex than that of other animals, not counting only whales. They have excellent memories and developed intellect. Suffice it to say that they have a high ability to remember human speech and imitate it. An example is Kaushik, the Asian elephant.

The researchers note that he perfectly imitates human speech, and to be more precise, he pronounces a few words. For example, approving - choah (good), annyong (hello), command - anja (sit), nuo (lie down), forbidding - aniya (no). According to observers, for Kaushik these words are not a thoughtless repetition, but a very clear understanding of what he is talking about.

trunk artist

In its dexterity, the elephant's trunk resembles an octopus tentacle. It is made up of many hundreds of muscles. Having learned to control them, and it takes two years to learn, the elephant is able to use the trunk to master any simple movement techniques that are inherent in the human hand.

Thanks to this, many animals were able to learn to draw and even open locks. The trunk can hold almost eight liters of water. To quench his thirst, the elephant draws water into it, and then brings it to his mouth.

Another Indian elephant doing research wildlife. This incredible event literally stunned everyone. In one of national parks India was witness to the friendship of an elephant with a lizard, which he caught and always carried with him.

Such relationships, when a mighty animal treats a smaller creature with reverence and tenderness, sometimes occur in life. This is well described, for example, in the story "The Lion and the Dog". About the friendship of an elephant and a lizard, a lot of pictures were taken by photographer Jagdeep Rajput.

Funeral like people

It is unlikely that anyone has ever managed to see elephant cemeteries. However, man and elephants and humans are currently the only living creatures on earth that do justice to those who die. Moreover, they take care of a sick relative, deliver food.

And when he gives up his spirit, the elephants try to bring him back to life for some time, bringing food and water. After that, when they realize that all their efforts are useless, they begin to dig a small grave and cover it with vegetation. Possessing sensitive hearts, they slightly raise their trunks and begin to trumpet. For a few more days they can sit silently at the grave.

There were cases when these amazing animals tried to bury people in the same way, taking only a sleeping person for a dead person.

Savanna centenarians

As a rule, the life expectancy of an elephant in natural conditions is less than in captivity, and can be up to 70 years. However, among these animals there are centenarians. For example, one war elephant lived up to 85 years Chinese army. And females are capable of giving birth even at the age of fifty.

The story about these amazing animals came to an end, where interesting facts about elephants for children, adults and just nature lovers were given. In addition, there are elephant seals in nature. What kind of animals, you will learn from the next chapter.

Marine "namesake"

They belong to pinnipeds and appearance have nothing to do with elephants that live on land. But with seals they have a great resemblance. They differ only in size: the sea elephant is larger, in addition, it has a trunk - a skin process in the nose area, reaching a length of 30 centimeters. For this trunk they got their name.

The main habitat of elephant seals is the southern hemisphere of the earth. Despite their attachment to the subantarctic zone, you can see animals in the Arctic. Colonies are often found on McDonald, Crozet Islands, the Kerlegen Archipelago, and in the islands and peninsulas of West Antarctica.

Sea elephant: interesting facts

• This animal is the most big predator on the planet. The weight of a male can be equal to the weight of an Indian elephant - 5 tons, and the length - 5 meters. His diet mainly includes squid, rarely he prefers to treat himself to fish and krill.
• Only for three weeks, elephant seals go to the beach rookery to find a mate for procreation. The remaining three hundred days are continuous swimming.

• Being in the water marine predators sometimes dive to a depth of 2 km. And their trips are long-distance - they overcome 10,000 km of water space all the time. Under water, thanks to oxygenated blood, they can stay for two hours. And he has a lot of blood - a fifth of the mass of the animal. By the way, in humans, this figure is three times less.
• The cub of the sea giant is called a puppy, although they have a length of more than a meter and a weight of half a centner. They feed on mother's milk, and the female is near them inseparably, not even leaving to search for food. And so the month continues.

• There are approximately 800,000 elephant seals around the world today, with a significant proportion living in the area of ​​South Georgia Island.
• Elephant seals live, unlike their earthly "namesakes", much less - on average, no more than 20 years, females even less - 10-15 years.

Both African and Indian elephants are listed in the Red Book. sea ​​elephants were on the verge of extinction, until in the middle of the twentieth century it was created international convention who took care of them.