This is a book about the African elephant. I wrote this for a person that is in my progam and her name is Elizabeth and I hope that all of you like this book.
1. Diet
The African elephant is an herbivoreand that means that they only eat plants.
When the rain season comes than the food that the elephants will eat are plants.
During the dry season than the food that they will eat is shrubs, twigs, bark,
flowers, fruitand they can also eat roots to they can also eat these foods at any
time of the year. The other food that these animals will eat is grass, leaves, fruit,
tree bark and they will also eat bamboo to. These animals will also eat crops like
bananas and sugarcanetheseitems will be grown on farms that will be taken care
of by farmers. An adult elephant will eat about 300 to 400lbs of food in a day.
They can also eat about (136 kilograms) in a day as well. The elephants will spend
a lot of their time eating. A bull elephant will eat about300-600 pounds (130-
260kg) of food at each day. The plants that the elephants eat will have to rip
them apartand to eat a tree bark they will have to push down the whole tree. All
two species of elephants are all plant eaters. There are somespecies that can eat
about 165 to 330 pounds (75 to 150 kilograms) in a single day this can be 4 to 6%
of the elephant’s body weight. They will normally spent16 hours of their day
eating food. The type of food that the bush elephant will eat is grass and that also
means that they will eat sedges, flowering plants, leaves, shrubs and they will also
eat small – to – medium – sizetrees. These types of elephants are grazers. The
forestelephant is a blower which means that they will eat frugivorous and leaves
and they will also eat fruit, seeds, branches and the other food that they will eat is
tree bark. A adult elephant will eat about225 kgs (496 lbs) of food in a day. These
animals can also drink about 50 gallons of water in a day. . If the African elephant
does not found any sign of water than it will start to dig up very deep holes by
using their trunk so that they can look for water. There are some holes that they
dig up can be seven feet deep. Lots of people think elephants know whereto dig
if they need to find water this is being done by communication with other
elephants. The food that the bush elephant will eat anything that is on its habitat
and the foods that they will eat is proportions, herbs, treebark and they can also
eat shrubbery leaves to.
2. Habitat/Range
The African savannah elephants can be found on savannahs thatare in 37
different countries that live in the southern part of the Sahara Desert. The African
forestelephant can be found in the rainforests that can be in the Westand in
Central Africa. The type of habitats that the African elephants live on is grasslands
and on open woodlands. TheAfrican elephant can also be found on the tropical
grassland thatis called a savanna and they can also be found in tropical
rainforests thatis in Central Africa. The type of habitats that they can be found in
is on tropical and subtropicalrainforests. TheAfrican elephant can be found on
the savannas and the wooded areas that are in Eastern, Southern and in Central
Africa. The African elephant lives on sub-Saharan Africa. Thereare some
subspecies like the forest elephant they can be found in the tropical forests that is
in Central Africa. The type of habitats that these animals can be found in forests,
grasslands, marches,scrub, and they can also be found on semi-desert areas. The
African elephant can be found in seven different countries that are in Africaand
those places are Zaire, Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Sudan
and they can also be found in Tanzania to. The African elephant lives in many
different types of habitats and the habitats that they live on is open grasslands
and on denseforest. The African savanna elephant can be found on the dry open
plains and they can also live on open woodlands to. The African forest elephant
lives in thick tropical forests. Elephants are very strong animals. The elephants
that live in Africa they can live on scorching desertthat is near chilly peaks
mountains that can be 1,000 ft(4.572m) high. Theseelephants can be found in
the rainforests of central and in WestAfrica. They can also live on sub-Saharan
Africato.
3. Size/Weight
Elephants are known to be the largestland mammal in the world. But the most
largest elephant is the African elephant. The weight of an adult African elephant is
12,000 –14,000 lbs. Theheight of an African elephant is the largest elephant out
of all of the two species of elephants. A male elephant can weigh about 16,500
pounds (7.500 kilograms). Thatcan be bigger than four cars. The most smallest
elephant is the African forestelephant. The African elephant can grow about 8
feet tall at the shoulder. A female will weigh about 8,000 pounds (3,600
kilograms) and the males can weigh about 15,000 pounds (6,800kilograms). The
height of an African elephant is 8.2 to 13ft(2.5 to 4m) to the shoulder. elephant is
5,000 to 14,000lbs. (2.268 to 6,350 kg). Thelength of the African elephants head
and body is 5 to 7.5 m (16,4-24,6ft) thetail length is 1 and 1.5m. The tail length is
1 to 1.5 m (3.25-5ft. They can weight about 4 and 7 tonnes (3,9-6.9 tons). An
African elephant’s tail can grow about11 feet tall and they can also weight about
13,000 pounds. Thelargestelephant has grown about13 feet tall and they can
weigh about 24,000 pounds. TheAfrican elephant can grow about 3-4 m (10-13ft)
up to the shoulder. (20-24ft) theweight of these animals are 3200-6400ft(6-7.
25m) long. The females are a lot smaller than the males are do. The height of the
African elephant is 5-14 ftto the shoulder. The length of these animals is 30ftup
to the trunk down to the tail. The weight of the African elephant is 6,000 to
15,000lbs this is what the males weight about. Elephants is the largestland
animal in the world. The weight of an male elephant is 26.400 lb (12,000 kg) that
can reach the shoulder. The height of an elephant is 13.8 ft (2.5 to 4 m ) up to the
shoulder . The weight of an male elephant is 26,400 lb (12,000 kg),Theheight of
the shoulder is 13.8ft(4.2m) 3ft that is how tall an average male African elephant
will grow up to be. The largestland mammal on the planet is the African elephant.
The height of an male elephant is 3.3mup to the shoulder and the weight of
these animals is 6000kg thatcan be the same weight as 10 small cars.
4. Life Span
The average life span for the African elephant is 70 years when they are in the
wild than they can live until their late 30’s and they can also live about 50 years in
the wild and they can also live have this life span when they are in captivity to.
When they are in the wild they can live about 60 years when they are in the wild.
When they are in a zoo than they can live about 60 years to. When they are in the
wild they can live about 55 to 60 years when they are in Africa. These animals live
a lot longer when they are in captivity and they can live about 80 years when they
are in captivity as well.
1 interesting fact
The African elephant lives in a group that is called a herd. These herds are usually
the females and their young. Males do not live in these herds the moment that
the males are big enough than they will startto live all by themselves but
sometimes males will be in group that is all males. But mostof the time that the
males will only join the herd with the female’s only it is time to mate. Every single
female elephant that is in the family are all mothers, daughters, aunts and
grandmas. Theseelephants will always stay together and the bonds between
them are vet strong. The jobs of the females is to help each other with raising
and protecting their young fromdanger. When the elephants are together than
they will do everything together and that includes traveling and feeding together.
A herd of elephants will normally walk about 50 yards (15 m) apart. The leader of
the herd is called a matriarch. The matriarch is usually the oldest and the most
experienced female out of all of females that is in the herd. The job of the leader
is to look for the best places to find food or water and is always on the lookoutfor
predators the order job that she does is to teach the youngers on how to behave
in the herd. There are some groups will justteach the matriach’s sisters and her
babies will do that to. When groups startcoming way to big than the bonds will
startto split off but they will still haveloose association. The males do not
5. normally live in a group. The moment that the male elephant gets big enough
than they will startto find food and protect themselves. There are somemales
that will leave the herd that it was born in and they will form their very own
bachelor herds with other males. The males will only come into a group that has
females is to only havebabies but this only happens at a shorttime. The African
elephants range can have about 2 or 24 animals that can be in this group. There
are some that can have even morethan 50 animals that can be in this group to.
Elephants build strong bonds and they live in a matriarchal group that is called a
herd. A herd of elephants can haveabout 8 to 100 elephants can be in the herd
but it really depends on the family size. When a baby is born than the calf will be
raised and protected by every single female that is in the herd. When the males
get older than they will start to leave the family that they were born in they will
startto go on their own when they reach the ages of 12 to 15 years odd that will
be the time when they will startto go off on their own. After that is over than the
male elephant will startto live on their own or start a group that fall of males.
2 interesting fact
Elephants will use their trucks to help them to do a lot of different things like
when they arein deep water a elephant can useits trucks as a snorkel. In the
elephants truck there are two nostrils that is on the end of the truck. The truck is
known to be an extension noise. The truck is not justused as an snorkelit can also
be used for food and water. Elephants will drink water by using their truck to suck
the water into it than the truck will curltowards the mouth and then they will
squirtwater into the mouth. On the elephants truck there are to grasping
extensions that is right on the end of their truck and this will work justlike a hand
will do. Some people will call thosetips fingers because they act justlike human
hands do. The elephant’s truck is their noseand also their upper lip. There are
about 8 muscles that can be found on both sides of the truck and they also have
150,000 muscles fasciclewhich is all over their truck The truck has no bones and
no cartilage is not in them. The muscles that they havein their trucks can make
them very strong theseanimals can even push down trees and they can also pick
6. up a single straw that is how agile that the truck is. Elephants will also usetheir
trucks to grab, hold, pick up, reach, touch, pull, push and throw stuff. Elephants
will also use it to spray themselves so that they can give themselves a bath so that
they can be clean. The truck can also be used as a nosetoo and the truck has two
nostrils that is on the end that can suck up the air up to the long nasalpassages
and right into the lungs. The truck of an elephant is a very long nosethat can be
used for breathing, trumpeting, drinking they can also use their truck to grab
things especially food. The truck has about 100,000 differentmuscles that is how
many muscles that an elephant truck has on the end of their truck it has two
fingers that are used to grab things that are very small. The African elephant has
two fingers and the Asian elephant only has one finger that are on the end of
their truck.
3 interesting fact
The ears of an African elephant are justlike an air conditioner. When elephants
flip their ears which means that they are cooling themselves they normally do this
on a day that is hot. The blood that is in their ears that is in their blood that is in
their blood vessels will flow up to the elephants ears so that they can cool
themselves. The ears of the elephant can help cool them down fromthe African
heat sometimes when the heat gets out of controlthe other way on how they can
stay cool is that elephants will spray their wholeskin with dustthat is protective
coating. The size of the elephants ears is about (5 feet to 1.5 feet long). The
shaped of their ears looks like the continent of Africa. Their eats do not justhelp
them to have hear good they can also be used to lose heat that is when hot blood
will start to flow up to the surfaceof their skin. The type of places that elephants
live in is the type places that havevery hot climates. When the body is in the sun
their skin will startto get hot very easily. Elephants will cool themselves by going
to watering holes they will also go to a river so that they can cool themselves to.
Elephants love to spend a lot of their time in the water sometimes they will rest in
7. it like an hour. They also like to cool down in mud to the mud helps them to
protect themselves fromthe sun just like we use sunblock that weuse to protect
ourselves fromthe sun. The calves also like to throw water at each other to. The
most greatestpredator that elephants face is humans when they are young they
are a lot easy to get killed by lions, crocodiles, leopards and they will also be killed
by hyenas to. When there is a day that is very hot than elephants will spenttheir
whole time in the shadeso that they can stay cool. The skin of an baby elephant is
very sensitivewhen it comes to the sun. So to help the baby mother will stand
over the young and give it shade so that it can cool down. Their skin will startto
become more thicker when the calf gets older. Elephants use so many different
types of noises to talk to each other. Elephants can even make noises that a
human ear will not be able to hear. These sounds can come in handy when they
need to communicate with another elephant that can be very far away. When a
elephants stomach growls that means that they are welcoming a new elephant
into the herd. The other sounds thatthe elephant will make is these very loud
noises and they are rumbling, and growling noises these sounds areused to tell
other elephants that everything is okay. Elephants can talk to each other in lots
of different ways. They really havegreat senseof smell and they can also hear
very well to. They can also usethese senses to talk to each other to. The
elephants can talk to each other in an elephant that can be heard over seven
miles (kilometers long) they will also use infrasound to talk to each other to. They
will use this to talk to an elephant that is close by. Elephants can also talk to each
other by to using body language to. A female elephant is called a cow and a male
elephant is called a bull. The ears of an elephant are justlike flags when they are
showing that they are getting aggressiveor dominanceflattened back against the
head so that they can show submission and fear that is some of the ways that
elephants use their ears to talk to each other. They can also use their truck to talk
to each other to. When two elephants have not seen each other for a while they
will use their truck so that they can greet each other or to warn each other that
there is danger nearby they will swing her trucks forwards. Themother can talk to
her baby by touching them by using their trucks. Communicating is a very
important way on how elephants stay close with each other and to make sure
that all the members and the calves are safe fromdanger.
8. Responding
A baby elephant is called a calf. The firstmeal that a baby elephant will have is
their mother’s milk justlike any other mammal mother does. Baby elephants are
known to be very hairy and the sizeof an baby elephant is two and three feet tall.
The gestation period for a female elephant is 22 months and almost for 2 years. A
mother elephant will only give birth to only one calf. The mating season for an
elephant is in every four months that can happen in anytime of the year. After the
male and the female are done mating than they will start to go their own ways a
baby elephant will be born in about 22 months. That is also the gestation period
for these animals to. The weight of an baby elephant 100kgs (22 lbs) and they can
stand about 90 cms (35 inches ) high. In about a few days the moment that it is
born then it will be able to join the herd when the calf is about 6 months old than
they will start to eat solid food at this time they will still continue to drink its
mothers milk are until the calf is about 5 years old. The elephant is known to have
the longestpregnancy than any other mammal on earth. The pregnancy of an
elephant is 22 months. A female will only give birth to only justone baby in about
2 or 4 years. The is firstborn can weigh about 200 pounds (91 kilograms) and
they can stand about 3 feet ( 1 meter) tall. After the female is done mating with
the male than the female will be pregnant about 22 months. A female elephant
will only give birth to only one baby at a time. The name for a baby elephant is
called a calf. The newborn elephant has red hair that is on of top their head and
on their back to. They will startto lose their hair when they get older. The first
food that an baby elephant will eat is its mothers milk they do this for the first
three years of their lives. Then after those three years are over then they will start
to eat normal elephant food like plants and grass. They will also learn how to act
in the herd so that they will fit in with the adults that is in the herd. The best
season for elephants to mate is really during the rainy season. The gestation
period for a elephant is 22 months. A female elephant will only give birth to one
calf. A baby elephant will weigh about 200-250 lbs this is the weight that they are
when they areborn. The truck of an baby elephant has no muscle tone in it. The
9. elephant will sucklein about a month. The baby will startto control its truck by
seven months. The sizeof an baby elephant is 26 to 42 inches (66 to 107
centimeters) tall up to the shoulder.
Survival Status
A lot elephants are facing one of the greatest threats and that is the loss of their
habitat and they are also facing climate changeto. This is a problem because if
the place that they live in gets to hot or too dry than it will harmthe baby
elephants. The other problem that elephants are facing is that there are so many
people that live on their habitat and people are taking over their habitat. The
other problem that elephants are facing is that people are killing them for their
tusks so that they can make ivory out of them. But people do not need ivory they
seem to justwant it so that they can make jewelry, piano keys, and to make
different types of decorations. Elephants are being poached for their beautiful
ivory tucks. If people keep on counting to destroy elephant’s habitats then the
future of elephants of will be gone forever and it will harmtheir future. In the
year of the late 1800 therewere about 27 millions of elephants that lived in
Africa. When the hunter has the African ivory then it will get send to India. The
population of the African elephant started to go down to 10 million elephants in
the year of 1850. Elephants arenot just getting killed for ivory they are also being
killed for sport to. During the year of 1850 this was the time that elephants start
to lose their homes by people. In the years of 1860 to 1930 poachers started to
kill 25,000 to 100,000 elephants in every single year. The mostplaces that will
usually get a lot of ivory is in the United States and in Europe so that they can
make piano keys out of them. In the year of 1970 the time of ivory had a whole
new different period and a whole lot busy period. This was the time when the
ivory trade had started to become a law. But there is a big problem because
poachers are still killing elephants for ivory they have killed thousands of
elephants so far (A poacher is a type of hunter that will kill an animal that is
protected by law.) The reason why they kill these beautiful animals is for their
own selfish reasons. In 1980 poachers havekilled about 80,000 elephants every
10. single year. Then the next year was 20,000 elephants werekilled by poachers. If
this counties then largest land mammal will be gone forever and we will only see
an elephant in a book. The mostbiggest threat for elephants is that they are being
killed for ivory. With all this hunting that is going on this leads a threat for the
elephant’s population and their future. But elephants are known to be protected
species on every counter of the world.
Message from Author
We must do something to help and to savethese amazing animals. These animals
need all the help that that they can get. Elephants have the right to continue
living on this planet. They are doing their part in nature and we should find a
place in nature to. This is a really big planet that is filled with wonders and
discoveries that are justwaiting to be found. We haveto make this planet a safe
place for useand for the other creatures that we shareit with. This is our
beautiful home and it deserves to have a second change to live on for the next
generation to come on this planet. There will be a big, brightand beautiful future
that is what will happen if we try to protect our planet. If wefind a way to project
our planet than our world and our home will be a much happier and a much
cleaner place to live in. We haveto make roomfor other living creatures to. God
made animals for a reason justlike he made us. That is whatI know about the
African elephant and other animals that live on this planet to. Together we can
make a difference in this beautiful plane that we all share. Thank you so much for
doing your part. With you reading and enjoying this book. You are helping your
favoriteanimal and its survivalin the wild. Without your supportand love and
respect your favoriteanimal will havea chance to make a comeback. This is a
huge thank you for helping these animals and everything else that has to do with
nature. Nature it is very important because withoutnature our planet will not be
so beautiful and full of wonder that can open a person’s eyes to world that they
never had imagined. Nature thanks you for your support.