A List of Interesting Elephant Facts
Everyone knows what an elephant is, what it looks like, and perhaps a little bit about its habitat but as you will discover from this list of elephant facts, this animal is actually quite intriguing. As a part of this list, we hope to educate but also entertain. Chances are good that as you look over this information, you will be amazed that there is much more to this magnificent animal than meets the eye.
We will start our list of interesting elephant facts by saying that of all land animals, this is the largest. In fact, elephants are so large that some males reach as tall as 13 feet. Along with being tall, elephants are also heavy. The average elephant weighs anywhere from 10,000 to 14,000 pounds, which is as much as a full sized school bus. While females tend to be somewhat smaller than males, both genders are massive.
Another one of our interest elephant facts is that the long trunk is not only used to breathe, but also to eat, drink, and even take a bath. For water, the elephant can fill the trunk, drink it, or hold it at which time the water could be sprayed over the body as a way of becoming clean or simply cooling the body down on a hot day. In fact, in the wild, it is common to see elephants spraying each other, as if playing a game.
Some of the other fun and interesting elephant facts we wanted to mention are listed below:
- The large elephant’s ears serve two very important purposes. Because this animal has poor eyesight, they depend on hearing things. With the oversized ears, they can hear things great distances away. In addition, the large ears serve as a built-in fan. When hot, they will flap the ears, using them to produce air for cooling the body.
- For diet, elephants like to eat small tree branches, bark, and grass but one of their favorite foods is the leaves that grow on the upper branches. To reach the leaves, elephants use their trunks, pulling the branches down and then using the two appendages on the end of the trunk to pluck the leaves from the branch.
- Interesting elephant facts also include their habitat. Most come from Africa and Asia where they live in herds. These herds are unique and structured. For instance, within the herd would be 10 female elephants, as well as the baby elephants. These females all have a relation to the matriarch, which would be the largest and oldest female, the boss, and leader of the herd. Often, the elephants in a herd will stay together for life.
- For male elephants, they leave the herd to head out on their own once they reach maturity, usually around age 12. The only time the male would return to the herd would be during the mating season.
- Another one of the interesting elephant facts we wanted to mention is that to find food and water, the entire herd, even small baby elephants will easily travel 10 miles or more. To reach their destination, they walk in a single file, strategically formed so the young are protected.
- Probably one of the most fascinating and touching of all elephant facts has only been discovered in recent years. It has been found that when the bones of a dead elephant are found by a herd, they will actually form a circle around the bones and then using their trunks, touch every inch, as a way of identifying and/or showing respect.
- Most people are unaware that elephants are excellent swimmers. Although it is common knowledge that this animal loves water, you would think the large body would make swimming difficult, which is untrue.
- Elephants must stand up to sleep in that lying down would cause the weight of the body to damage the organs and actually suffocate the animal. However, because baby elephants are not as heavy, they will lie down to sleep when still very young.
- Within a single day, elephants produce 80 pounds of waste