Elephant Information

Elephants are the largest land mammals on earth, and undoubtedly one its most awe-inspiring creatures. Their size, unique shape, intelligence and strong family bonds have amazed and inspired humans throughout the centuries. In many myths and religions the elephant has become a symbolic figure, evident in the countless paintings, carvings and drawings of history. Despite this, mankind in the latter centuries has still managed to commit countless atrocities against these gentle giants, all in the name of money and greed.

Elephants are presumed to have originated some 55 million years ago, on the plains of northern Africa. There were many evolutionary offshoots and it is believed that over 300 different species of trunked animals once roamed the earth. Today, the perfection of this evolution is evident in the two sole surviving species - the African Elephant (Loxodonta Africana) and the Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus). There is also a forest elephant (Loxodonta cycotis) that is found in African forests - some consider this a separate species from the African elephant found in the savannah (Loxodonta Africana) however both are African elephants. The African elephant (both the forest and savannah species) is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, just one step below Endangered. Exact numbers are uncertain, but it is believed that as much as 80% of the species occurs outside of protected areas. The Asian elephant is listed as Endangered; there is however much controversy regarding this status.

The difference between African and Asian elephants

The most obvious difference between the African and the Asian elephant is the size of their ears - those of the African are larger and shaped like the outline of Africa while those of the Asian are smaller and shaped like the outline of India. The African species has a two-fingered tip to the trunk while the Asian elephant has one ‘finger’. Both male and female African elephants have tusks, the males' usually longer. Asian elephant males have tusks which are more curved and thicker than those of the African species while female Asians have very small tusks or none at all. The skin is both lighter and less hairy in an African elephant.

African Elephant

Asian Elephant

Difference in appearence between Male and Female African elephants

The female’s head profile in side view is angular while in the male it is round. Males are heavier and taller, reaching up to 4m, and can weigh up to 6 tons while females reach about 2.6m and weigh approximately 3 tons. Males have larger tusks compared to the females who have small tusks, or no tusks at all.

Interesting facts about the internal organs of an African elephant:

• The brain of an adult weighs between 4.5 kg and 5 kg
• Temporal lobes, known to function as memory centres in humans, are large
• The heart of an elephant weighs between 12 and 21 kg
• The combined length of the small and large intestine may reach 35 m
• On average it takes 24 hours to digest a meal
• Elephants only digest 44% of their food intake

Male African Elephant

Female African Elephant

	The Skin The thickness of the skin varies from 1.5 to 2.5cm, thinner in areas like the inside of the ears, around the mouth and anus and thicker on areas like the back and various places on the head. Despite the thickness of the skin, it is very sensitive. An elephant has no sweat glands, mud trapped in the folds of the skin along with the flapping of its ears help to keep the elephant cool. The overall colour of the skin is grey, although it often seems brown or even reddish from wallowing in mudholes of coloured soil. The mud acts as a sunscreen, protecting against insect bites and moisture loss..
	Big Ears African elephants have the biggest ears in the world, measuring up to 2m from top to bottom. They do not have bigger ears for better hearing however - their ears are bigger because it is hotter on the open tropical plains, and the ears are designed to lose heat. Inside the huge earflap there is a network of large blood vessels, flapping the ears regularly cools an elephant in several ways: each flap acts like a fan, blowing air over the body surface, as well as cooling the air around the blood vessels in the ear.
	The Tusks When an African elephant is born it already has tiny deciduous incisors which are equivalent to milk teeth. These are replaced by permanent tusks at 6 - 13 months. Tusks, which grow continuously at a rate of about 17cm per year, are composed mainly of dentine (the substance teeth are made of) topped with a coat of enamel. Yet an elephant’s tusks are not for decoration, but have a variety of important functions - they are used as tools, as weapons, and in displays, but although tusks are useful, some elephants can and do live without them. Just as humans are right or left handed so too are elephants left or right-tusked. The tusk that is used more often is called the ‘master-tusk’ and is shorter and more rounded. The heaviest recorded tusk weighed 117kg and the longest single tusk measured a record 3.26m.
	More than just a long nose The trunk is made up of the nose, upper lip and muscles of the elephant’s face joined together and lengthened to form a unique fifth limb. There are no bones down the middle which is why an elephant can move its trunk in any direction. A normal limb, like an arm, is moved by muscles pulling against jointed bones, where the fleshy trunk works by muscles pulling against other muscles. The two nostril tubes are surrounded by more than 100 000 muscle units. An African elephant has two triangular ‘fingers’ at the tip of the trunk which they use to pick up small objects. They are capable of very precise movements, and can pick up items as small as a single seed. Once an elephant is weaned, everything it eats or drinks is placed in the mouth using the trunk; it is unlikely to survive if anything serious should happen to its trunk.
	Walking on tiptoe Most are surprised at how silently an elephant moves through the bush. There is little sound because a built in shock absorber, made of fatty fibrous tissue, cushions the impact of the foot on the ground. An elephant’s weight rests on the tip of each toe and the fibrous cushion under the ‘heel’. Elephants are very good climbers of steep hills, mountains and, on occasion, even cliffs.

A day in the lives of elephants

The family unit of African elephants averages 8-10 animals, consisting of an old cow called the Matriarch, her adult daughters, their suckling calves, and a number of juveniles and adolescent male and female offspring. As the leader of the herd, the matriarch is responsible for the herd’s safety and for providing sufficient food and water. The mind of the matriarch contains local elephant lore handed down through generations. Adult African bulls tend to be solitary or with other bulls in small, relatively unstable groups, however are also frequently found with cow-calf groups when females are reproductively active. Elephants communicate with each other through very low frequency vocalisations called infrasound which travels a distance of 20-30km, and by contact such as rubbing or entwining trunks, as well as by scent. Touch is a very important way of communicating feelings - to reassure a frightened member of the family, other elephants stand close. To reprimand a naughty calf, a mother smacks it with her trunk. Like dogs, elephants show a great interest in urine. When a female is in oestrus (in heat and ready to mate) her urine will have a slightly different smell; male elephants will inhale this scent then curl the trunk inwards to blow it over a small opening in the mouth, called the Jacobson’s gland or vominasal. This is the organ which detects whether a female is ready to mate.

Reproduction in African elephants

In an elephant bull the testes are located near the kidneys inside the body, the penis controlled by voluntary muscles. Bulls begin to produce sperm between the ages of 10 and 15 years, although are unlikely to father many calves at this stage. A bull produces as much as a litre of ejaculate, the act of mating taking only about a minute. Cows are sexually active during a short period called an oestrus cycle, coming into season every 4 months. They reach sexual maturity from 9 - 10 years of age and can give birth until their mid 50s.

Pregnancy

Pregnancy lasts approximately 22 months, in the 3rd month of pregnancy the trunk, ears and tail are already present in the developing foetus. A newborn calf weighs as much as 120kg at birth. The mammary glands (breasts) are located between the forelegs, enabling the mother to be in touch with her calf while it drinks milk. A baby elephant will suckle from its mother for about two years; when not lactating the mammary glands shrink.

What is Musth?

The phenomenon of musth is described as natural behaviour in adult male elephants and is thought to be associated with sexual activity and / or communication, although the exact function of the gland is not known. It has for centuries been noted to appear annually, and on occasion up to three times a year in healthy bull elephants, occuring the first time when they are between 15 and 20 years old. The word ‘musth’ comes from the elephant people in the Far East - in Hindi, it means intoxicated. The phenomenon occurs in both African and Asian elephants. The most obvious signs of musth are the copious secretion from the swollen and enlarged temporal glands associated with a sharp increase in aggressive behaviour and the continuous discharge of urine. The musth / temporal gland is found just below the skin midway between the eye and the ear on either side of the head.

The Non-stop diet

Elephants are herbivores (plant eaters) and spend approximately three quarters of their time, day and night, eating. An adult elephant will eat between 100 to 200kg of vegetation per day, depending on both its habitat and size.

Disease and Mortality

An elephant’s lifespan is approximately 65 years. Internal parasites like worms and external parasites like ticks and lice are unlikely to cause ill health unless the elephant is already suffering from malnutrition. An elephant has six sets of teeth, when the final set are worn to the gums the elephant will inevitably die of starvation.

In South Africa more and more elephants are being born tuskless due to the virtual elimination of all big tuskers through hunting in the late 19th century, with this particular genotype (genetic type) subsequently being lost. Elephants will usually stay with their dead relative for hours after its death. Apart from drought, poaching for ivory is now the single largest cause of mortality in African elephants.

In October 1989 CITES (Convention on International Trade in endangered species of Wild Fauna and Flora) banned all trade in elephant products. Poaching has caused the virtual elimination of the African elephant in countries like Sudan, Somalia, Chad and Mozambique. Strict anti-poaching laws in South Africa and Zimbabwe have thankfully led to a steady increase in elephant numbers in the 20th century.