FACTS ABOUT ELEPHANTS

Elephants are regarded as one of the big five mammals in the wild and the largest land animals in the world Weighing up to 6 tons (11 000lb). This giant of the animal kingdom has a striking presence.  The elephant is distinguished from other mammals by its high level of brainpower, interesting behaviour, means of communication and multifaceted social structure. There are two species that are traditionally recognised in the world, the African elephant and the Asian elephant. Although they are totally living on different continent, they share a lot in common. African elephants can be distinguished from its counterpart by their larger ears that look somewhat like the continent of Africa for the Asian elephants have smaller, rounded ears.

Size

An African elephants are the largest among the two species weighing from 5,000 to 14,000 lbs. (2,268 to 6,350 kilograms, here as an Asian elephant weigh up to 2.25 to 5.5 tons (2,041 to 4,990 kg)

The Elephant uses a  well-developed trunk  in most  of everything, the truck is very important in that it serves as a nose, hand, an extra foot, gesture device and a tool for gathering food, taping water, dusting, digging, tearing down trees, fighting especially males  and a variety of many other functions. Not only that, but the truck also permits the elephant to reach as high as 23 feet. African elephants have two finger-like of its kind on the end of their trunk that they can use to grab small items. Asian elephants have one. Either male or female grow tusks and they grow for most of an elephant's lifetime and are an indicator of age. An elephant's trunk has more than 100,000 muscles, according to the research carried out by the National Geographic. Same applies to humans where you can find someone right handed or left handed, elephants can be right-tusked or left-tusked]

Quick Facts

Allocation

Elephants are widely allocated throughout central, western, eastern and south of the African Sahara, with the forest elephant inhabiting the rainforests of the Congo basin. There are isolated populations in the southern African sub-region. Asian elephants mostly live in Nepal, India and Southeast Asia in scrub forests and rain forests. Elephants mostly live in the open plains, clean drinking water and the plentiful supply of food are an elephant’s only habitat requirement.

Diet 

Elephant are regarded as herbivore mammals they browse and eat up to 600 pounds of food a day. They eat roots, fruits, and barks. They eat a lot of things that much their size, they can be extremely destructive in their feeding habits by pushing over trees, pulling them up by their roots or breaking off branches. They don’t sleep a lot they spend most of their time walking great distances while foraging for the large quantities of food that they require to sustain their massive bodies.

Habits 

A group of elephants is called a herd, about 10 individuals which is led by a matriarch the oldest female. Unlike in other mammal species where the adult males live together within the family it’s not the case with elephants as the adult male tends to wander on their own, they are normally solitary and move from herd to herd. Females, as well as young and old elephants, stick together in a herd. The females in each herd help each other find food and care for calves.

Reproduction

Elephant have along pregnancy of about 22 months longer than any other land animal. A baby elephant weighs up to 200ibs. (91kg) and stand about 3 feet (1m) tall. A baby elephant is called a calf. female elephants (Cows) usually give birth to one calf every two to four years by the time a calf is 2 or 3 years old, they are ready to be weaned. A female calf will stay with their mothers while the male calf wanders off on their own or join another group. A female is ready to conceive when they reach 13 to 20 years of age.

Socialisation

Elephants are generally sociable and form small family groups consisting of an older matriarch and three or four offspring, along with their young. The female family groups are often visited by mature males checking for females in oestrus. Elephants communicate within their herds or between herds many kilometres away mostly using sounds too low for human ears to perceive and by stamping their feet, elephants are believed to have the same or similar levels of cooperation as chimpanzees the closest relative of man. When elephants meet at watering holes and feeding places, they warmly greet each other a sign of Socialisation among themselves. If in a group one elephant dies, the herd dig a shallow hole and made the dead elephant to rest in peace and they can even spent days mourning for their friend.

 Life span

Elephants live to up to 60 to 70 years in the wild

Predators

• Humans, because ivory is so valuable to some humans, many elephants have been killed for their tusks. This trade is illegal today, but it has not been completely eliminated, and some African elephant populations remain endangered.
• Other predators like hyena, crocodiles, lions are a threat to elephants they most of the time target the one ones

Where elephants can be seen in Uganda

also provides a great opportunity of watching these giants. Take a game drive in

There are very many places in Uganda where these species can be seen in abundant; they include national parks and a few game reserves. Queen Elizabeth national park which is located in the south western part of Uganda provide a unique opportunity for elephant viewing  in a close range , in a tourist 4x4 FWD vehicle.  Many can be spotted in the savannah grassland of the park and other can be seen when on a boat cruise on the Kazinga channel on the shores of the lake foraging. http://elephantsafaris.co.ug/5days-queen-murchison.phpthe northern part of the park you will meet a lot of them just near in a herd of about 10 individuals per family you meet as you will also meet other wildlife in the park. Also when you visit http://elephantsafaris.co.ug/lakemburo.phpLake Mburo national park you will keep smiling after having a glance on these wild giants. At http://www.elephantsafaris.co.ug/ we offer good packages for wildlife viewing and primate watching (single or combined) to make your safari memorable.