The
Elephants | The Stables | Paul
& his Team | Elephant Facts
Fact 1.
Like all highly social mammals
elephants have a well-developed system of communication that makes
use of all of their senses - hearing, smell, vision and touch.
This includes an exceptional ability to detect vibrations.
Fact 2.
Elephants communicate over great
distances - up to perhaps 10 kilometres or more. They convey information
about their physiological and emotional state, as well as their
intentions or desires.
Fact 3.
Calves can continue to drink from
their mothers (while also eating vegetation) until the age of
three years; in some cases 5 years, although the norm is 2 years.
If a nursing mother dies, her calf may be adopted by other nursing
mothers.
Fact 4.
The survival of females and their
offspring depends upon the cohesion and co-ordination of the extended
family. Their use of signals underlines the importance of the
unit. They use active communication to reinforce bonds between
relatives, reassure youngsters, reconcile differences between
family and friends, form coalitions against aggressors, and keep
in contact over long distances.
Fact 5.
Well-known for their intelligence,
close family ties and social complexity, elephants remember for
years other individuals and places. They live in a fluid fission-fusion
society with relationships radiating out from the mother-offspring
bond through families, bond groups, clans, independent males and
populations.
Fact 6.
Elephants have strong individual
personalities that affect how they interact with other elephants,
how others perceive them, and how well they are able to influence
members of their group. Some elephants are popular while others
are not. Some elephants show great leadership qualities, others
do not; some are kind and out going, others are more self-absorbed.
Fact 7.
Matriarchs are generally the oldest
and largest adult female member of a family and usually they are
very closely related to the previous matriarch
Fact 8.
Matriarchs express their dominance
in both competitive and cooperative situations. Matriarchs have
been traditionally thought of as rather autocratic, making most
decisions and leading a rather docile group of "followers".
Fact 9.
Whenever they reach water, which
may be daily, or in drier areas only every third or fourth day,
they bathe, either spraying themselves or lying down in the water.
Sometimes they submerge completely, with only the tip of the trunk
showing. They are very relaxed in water, and move through it either
by swimming or by walking on the bottom while using their trunks
as a 'snorkel'.
Fact 10.
Elephants have a thick layer of
cartilage under their feet, which functions as a shockabsorber:
when on the ground, the soles splay out, and when the foot is
lifted, they shrink: this enables the elephant to walk without
making a sound, in spite of its great size. Although elephants
can run at a speed of about 40 km/hr, its vast bulk prevents it
from jumping over even a small ditch.
Fact 11.
The trunk is an amazing organ of
extreme dexterity: it is the single most important feature of
an elephant, and gives the Order Proboscidea its name. It is actually
a fusion between the nose and upper lip, and consists of some
100 000 muscle units, which allow the elephant to move the trunk
with such a wide range of movement.
Fact 12.
Elephants use their trunks to,
among other things: breathe through, smell with, to pick up water
to drink (the trunk can hold 8.5 litres), to pick leaves, fruit,
etc., either off trees or off the ground, to cover themselves
with mud, water or dust, and to communicate with each other, via
touch, smell and the production of sound.
Fact 13.
African elephants spend about two
thirds of their time feeding, and consume about eight percent
of their body weight daily - generally about 200 - 250 kg of food
each day, depending on their body weight. They often uproot small
trees and severely damage large ones in their quest for food,
thereby modifying their habitat.
Fact 14.
Apart from food, elephants require
large amounts of water, will cover vast distances in order to
reach it, and will drink at least once a day, and sometimes several
times a day. They also require salt and other minerals, and often
dig for minerals in rich soil: they also prefer water that contains
large amounts of minerals, and will drink selectively from different
waterholes.
Fact 15.
Elephants deposit large amounts
of dung each day, which plays a major role in the recycling of
nutrients. Many seeds not only get dispersed by elephants, but
have a greater chance of successful germination after passing
through an elephant gut.
Fact 16.
Elephants are very vocal creatures:
they rumble, squeak, trumpet, gurgle and chirp, as well as communicating
with body language, such as by shaking the head, spreading the
ears, raising the trunk etc. Much of their communication cannot
be heard by humans, as they make low frequency rumbling noises
that can travel for kilometres.
Fact 17.
Elephants have an acute sense of
smell, and communicate by smell and touch - often one elephant
will place its trunk into another’s mouth in order to greet
it or reassure it in moments of stress. Elephants also often raise
the trunk in order to test the air. Compared to the size of their
heads, elephant's have small eyes with long lashes, and their
sense of sight is fairly poor.
Fact 18.
Family groups are the basis of
elephant society, and consist of herds of females. A group can
be as small as 3 or 4, or as large as 25 or more, although in
times of plenty several family groups may join together to form
large herds, sometimes containing hundreds of individuals.
Fact 19.
Adult bull elephants go through
musth, a specific reproductive condition, about once a year, and
this state may last for only a few days, or for three months or
longer. The musth glands, or temporal glands, swell and secrete
a liquid: this can often be seen as a thick secretion running
down the side of the elephants face.
Fact 20.
Musth bulls often issue a specific
low rumble, which is often answered by a female calling back.
Older bulls may actually cause suppression of musth in younger
bulls. There is evidence to suggest that musth is a reliable indicator
of good condition, as African elephant bulls in poor condition
do not come into musth, and wounded bulls may drop out of musth.
Fact 21.
Cows usually begin reproducing
between the ages of ten and twelve. They produce a single calf
at four to five year intervals, and may continue breeding until
about fifty. A large family group can include four generations,
and cows do not usually become matriarchs until they are 40 or
50.
Fact 22.
Elephant calves are usually born
during the early summer. A central bond is that between mother
and calf, and mother elephants care for their young longer than
any other animal, with the exception of humans and some whales.
Fact 23.
Pregnancy lasts nearly two years,
and at birth the calf weighs roughly 100 kg, and stands just under
three feet at the shoulder.
