Key Facts About African Elephants
African elephants are larger in stature than Asian elephants and are considered the largest mammal anywhere on land. Males can stand almost 13 feet tall and weigh close to 13,000 pounds. Females are just as majestic, reaching heights up to 8.5 feet and more than 7,000 pounds in weight.
The large ears of African elephants are a signature feature of these creatures native to the African continent and help to keep the animals cool in the often brutal African heat. Another special feature are the two finger like appendages at the end of their long trunk which helps them to pick up small items. Their long ivory tusks are used for defending themselves from other animals, for stripping bark from trees and as a digging implement to pull up roots to eat. Fruit, bark, roots and grasses are among the 300 pounds of food that African Elephants usually consume on a daily basis. African elephants spend much of their time roaming over wide areas in search of enough food and they do not spend much of their time sleeping.
Unfortunately the value of their tusks make African elephants an endangered species as illegal poaching is a continuing problem despite an international ban on ivory trade in 1990. It is estimated that a population that once was over one and a quarter million elephants has dwindled down to a mere 10,000 African Elephants.
African elephants are highly intelligent animals. Although the males or bulls tend to roam freely, the females, known as cows, congregate in family units known as herds with their young. The gestation period for a baby elephant is almost 2 years, with cows giving birth every 2 to 4 years.
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