Elephant
hideElephants are large land mammals of the order Proboscidea and the family Elephantidae. There are three living species: the African Bush Elephant, the African Forest Elephant and the Asian Elephant (also known as the Indian Elephant). Other species have become extinct since the last ice age, the Mammoths, dwarf forms of which may have survived as late as 2,000 BC, being the best-known of these. They were once classified along with other thick skinned animals in a now invalid order, Pachydermata.
Elephants are the largest land animals. The elephant's gestation period is 22 months, the longest of any land animal. At birth it is common for an elephant calf to weigh 120 kilograms (260 lb). They typically live for 50 to 70 years, but the oldest recorded elephant lived for 82 years. The largest elephant ever recorded was shot in Angola in 1956. This male weighed about 12,000 kilograms (26,000 lb), with a shoulder height of 4.2 metres (14 ft), a metre (yard) taller than the average male African elephant. The smallest elephants, about the size of a calf or a large pig, were a prehistoric species that lived on the island of Crete during the Pleistocene epoch.
The elephant has appeared in cultures across the world. They are a symbol of wisdom in Asian cultures and are famed for their memory and intelligence, where they are thought to be on par with cetaceans and hominids. Aristotle once said the elephant was "the beast which passeth all others in wit and mind". The word "elephant" has its origins in the Greek ἐλέφας, meaning "ivory" or "elephant".
Healthy adult elephants have no natural predators, although lions may take calves or weak individuals. They are, however, increasingly threatened by human intrusion and poaching. Once numbering in the millions, the African elephant population has dwindled to between 470,000 and 690,000 individuals according to a March 2007 estimate. While the elephant is a protected species worldwide, with restrictions in place on capture, domestic use, and trade in products such as ivory, CITES reopening of "one time" ivory stock sales, has resulted in increased poaching. Certain African nations report a decrease of their elephant populations by as much as two-thirds, and populations in certain protected areas are in danger of being eliminated Since recent poaching has increased by as much as 45%, the current population is unknown (2008).
For more information about Elephant, read the full article at
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News tagged with elephants
India to move all zoo elephants to wildlife parks
Nov 13, 2009 |
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(AP) -- All elephants living in Indian zoos and circuses will be moved to wildlife parks and game sanctuaries where the animals can graze more freely, officials said Friday.
Humans, Other Mammals Similarly Voice Frustrations
Nov 05, 2009 |
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Pet owners and scientists who spend a lot of time in the wild say that they can tell when an animal is upset by the sound of its voice. Now new analyses of animal calls may offer an explanation; humans seem ...
Why being big like an elephant puts a spring in your step
Sep 07, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Large, lumbering animals such as elephants move much more efficiently than small, agile ones such as mice, University of Manchester scientists have shown.
Discovery of the oldest known elephant relative
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Jul 08, 2009 |
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Emmanuel Gheerbrant, paleontologist at the Paris Museum (France), discovered one of the oldest modern ungulates related to the elephant order. The study is published in the PNAS journal.
Kenya's national parks not free from wildlife declines
Jul 08, 2009 |
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Long-term declines of elephants, giraffe, impala and other animals in Kenya are occurring at the same rates within the country's national parks as outside of these protected areas, according to a study released ...
Australia welcomes its first new-born elephant
Jul 04, 2009 |
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Australia has welcomed the first elephant ever born in the country with the arrival of a 100-kilogram (220.4-pound) male calf at a Sydney zoo, according to keepers.
Dinosaurs May Have Been Smaller Than We Thought: New Study
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Jun 25, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- For millions of years, dinosaurs have been considered the largest creatures ever to walk on land. While they still maintain this status, a new study suggests that some dinosaurs may actually have weighed ...
Indonesian elephant fossil opens window to past
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Jun 23, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Indonesian scientists are reconstructing the largest, most complete skeleton of a prehistoric giant elephant ever found in the tropics, a finding that may offer new clues into the largely mysterious ...
Elephant-size loopholes sustain Thai ivory trade
Jun 19, 2009 |
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Legal loopholes and insufficient law enforcement mean that Thailand continues to harbour the largest illegal ivory market in Asia, says a new report from the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC.
Beehive fence deters elephant raiders
Jun 05, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A fence made out of beehives wired together has been shown to significantly reduce crop raids by elephants, Oxford University scientists report.
Carbon payments payments could protect orangutans, pygmy elephants in Borneo
Jun 04, 2009 |
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A new report published today provides compelling evidence that paying to conserve billions of tons of carbon stored in tropical forests could also protect orangutans, pygmy elephants, and other wildlife at risk of extinction. ...
Did dinosaurs hold their heads up?
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
May 27, 2009 |
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Some dinosaurs may have held their heads up, like a giraffe, rather than in a more horizontal position, University of Portsmouth scientists report today.
Scientists develop tool to study a deadly parasite’s histone code
May 14, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In the Japanese art of paper folding, a series of folds can make the same sheet of paper into a ballerina or baby elephant. But try unfolding the baby elephant and making it into a ballerina. It’s like trying ...
2 rare elephants found dead in Indonesian jungle
May 08, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Two rare Sumatran elephants believed to have been poisoned with cyanide-laced pineapples were found dead in the jungles of northwestern Indonesia with their tusks removed, a conservationist said.
Diet secrets of 'the Royals' -- Elephant tail hair isotopes show cattle out-munch pachyderms
Apr 13, 2009 |
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Two weeks after the rains begin, an elephant family named "the Royals" usually switches to a grass diet to bulk up for pregnancy and birth. But when they wandered off their African reserve one rainy season, ...
