Elephant

Elephants are the largest living land animals. There are three species today: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are known for their long trunk, which they use to grab food and water, and their tusks, which help them move things and defend themselves. Their big ears help keep them cool and also help them talk to each other.

Elephants live in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia in many kinds of places, like savannahs, forests, and marshes. They eat only plants and like to stay near water. Female elephants usually stay together in family groups led by the oldest female, called the matriarch. Young male elephants leave their families when they grow up and may live alone or with other males.

Elephants are very smart and can talk to each other in many ways, including with sounds that are too low for humans to hear. Sadly, elephants face serious dangers today, mainly from people taking their ivory tusks. They are also hurt by losing their homes because of human activities. Even so, elephants remain important and beloved symbols in many cultures around the world.

Etymology

The word elephant comes from the Latin word elephas, which itself is based on the ancient Greek word elephas. These words likely originated from a language that is not related to most European languages, possibly Phoenician. Even thousands of years ago, in the time of Mycenaean Greek, people used a similar word to talk about ivory, and later it also came to mean the animal itself. The word elephant appeared in Middle English around the year 1300, borrowed from Old French.

Taxonomy

Elephants are part of the family Elephantidae, the only family left in the order Proboscidea. Today, there are three living species of elephants: the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), the forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis), and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus).

In the past, mammoths lived alongside modern elephants and were more closely related to Asian elephants than to African ones. Some extinct elephant relatives, like Palaeoloxodon, were even larger than today's elephants, standing over 4 metres tall and weighing more than 10 tonnes.


Name	Size	Appearance	Distribution
African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana)	Male: 304–336 cm (10 ft 0 in – 11 ft 0 in) (shoulder height), 5.2–6.9 t (5.7–7.6 short tons) (weight); Female: 247–273 cm (8 ft 1 in – 8 ft 11 in) (shoulder height), 2.6–3.5 t (2.9–3.9 short tons) (weight).	Relatively large and triangular ears, concave back, diamond shaped molar ridges, wrinkled skin, sloping abdomen, and two finger-like extensions at the tip of the trunk.	Sub-Saharan Africa; forests, savannahs, deserts, wetlands, and near lakes.
African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis)	209–231 cm (6 ft 10 in – 7 ft 7 in) (shoulder height), 1.7–2.3 t (1.9–2.5 short tons) (weight).	Similar to the bush species, but with smaller and more rounded ears and thinner and straighter tusks.	West and Central Africa; equatorial forests, but occasionally gallery forests and forest/grassland ecotones.
Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)	Male: 261–289 cm (8 ft 7 in – 9 ft 6 in) (shoulder height), 3.5–4.6 t (3.9–5.1 short tons) (weight); Female: 228–252 cm (7 ft 6 in – 8 ft 3 in) (shoulder height), 2.3–3.1 t (2.5–3.4 short tons) (weight).	Relatively small ears, convex or level back, dish-shaped forehead with two large bumps, narrow molar ridges, smooth skin with some blotches of depigmentation, a straightened or saggy abdomen, and one extension at the tip of the trunk.	South and Southeast Asia; habitats with a mix of grasses, low woody plants, and trees, including dry thorn-scrub forests in southern India and Sri Lanka and evergreen forests in Malaya.

Anatomy

Elephants are the largest living land animals. Their skeletons contain between 326 and 351 bones, and they have special air spaces in their skulls that make the skulls lighter but still strong. African elephants have more ribs than Asian elephants.

Elephants have large ears that help them stay cool by flapping them to release heat. Their trunks are incredibly flexible and contain many muscles, allowing them to pick up tiny objects or lift heavy weights. Trunks are also used for breathing, drinking, and even as a sense organ to smell and touch.

Elephants’ teeth include tusks, which are long and can keep growing throughout their lives. Their skin is thick and tough but still sensitive, and they often cover themselves in mud to stay cool and protect their skin. Their legs are strong and support their massive weight, and they can walk great distances at a steady pace.

Behaviour and ecology

Elephants are herbivores, eating leaves, twigs, fruit, bark, grass, and roots. African elephants mostly browse, while Asian elephants mainly graze. They can eat up to 300 kg of food and drink 40 L of water in a day. Elephants stay near water sources and have feeding sessions in the morning, afternoon, and nighttime, resting under trees at midday.

Elephants greatly affect their environments. By uprooting trees and digging for water, they create spaces for smaller animals and help spread seeds. However, their weight can compress soil and cause erosion.

Elephants generally live together peacefully. Female elephants form tight family groups led by a matriarch, usually the oldest female. Male elephants often live alone or in groups with other males. Calves may be preyed on by lions, hyenas, wild dogs, and tigers.

Conservation

African bush elephants were listed as Endangered in 2021, and African forest elephants were listed as Critically Endangered the same year. In the past, Africa had millions of elephants, but their numbers have dropped a lot due to threats like poaching and loss of habitat. Today, there are around 415,000 African elephants left.

Asian elephants are also endangered, with only about 40,000 to 50,000 left. They face threats from poaching and losing their homes as human populations grow. Conservation efforts are important to protect these amazing animals.

Human relations

Working animal

Further information: Captive elephants

Elephants have been working animals for over 4,000 years, since the time of the Indus Valley civilization, and they continue to be important today. In the year 2000, there were between 13,000 and 16,500 working elephants in Asia. These elephants are usually taken from the wild when they are between 10 and 20 years old, which is when they are old enough to train but still young enough to work for many years. They can carry heavy loads and pull things, and they are especially useful in difficult terrain where machines can’t go. Asian elephants are often used for jobs like carrying people during religious festivals. They can learn more than 30 different commands, which makes them very useful workers.

Warfare

Main article: War elephant

Zoos and circuses

Further information: Captive elephants

Elephants have been popular attractions in zoos and circuses for many years. In circuses, they learn to do tricks and entertain people. One famous elephant was Jumbo, who was a big star in the Barnum & Bailey Circus. Keeping elephants in zoos and circuses can be tricky because they don’t have many babies in captivity, and sometimes they get stressed. Some people think zoos help protect elephants by teaching people about them, while others worry that the elephants are unhappy. In 2016, the Barnum & Bailey Circus stopped using elephants in their shows.

Cultural significance

Main article: Cultural depictions of elephants

Elephants appear in stories, art, and religions all around the world. In Africa, some people believed that the souls of their ancestors lived in elephants. In Asia, elephants are very important in Hindu and Buddhist traditions. For example, Ganesha, a popular Hindu god, has an elephant’s head. In Western stories, elephants often appear as kind and wise characters, like in the tales of Babar or Dumbo. Elephants also give us some common expressions, like “elephant in the room,” which means something everyone is noticing but no one is talking about.