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These pictures are of the African
Elephant.  |
Siri and the other elephants from the Burnet Park Zoo are actually Asian elephants. However, the information on this page describes the African elephant. The African elephant, Loxodonta africana, is a little larger than its close relative, Elephas maximus, the Asian elephant. African elephants are the largest living land animals, but some of the forest dwelling elephants are relatively small. The largest African elephants are 13 feet tall at the shoulders, 25 feet long, and weighed 16,500 pounds, or 8.25 tons! The tail is 4-5 feet long! |
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The elephant was trained to do several tricks. At the trainer's command, the elephant stood on two legs, stood on its head, and picked up hay with its trunk. Before that, the elephant just wandered around, picking up tires that were given it as toys. |
The African elephant can be found in southern, central, and eastern Africa. It lives in a variety of biomes, including forests, grasslands, river valleys, and deserts. The elephant can be very destructive to its biome. It tends to defoliate areas by stripping trees of bark and branches with its powerful trunk. Its trunk is strong enough to even uproot trees. |
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The African elephant's most obvious adaptation is its trunk, which is basically an elongated nose. It has many uses, such as sucking up water and spraying it back in its mouth. Its main use, however, is to allow the elephant to reach up in trees to reach the foliage, which it eats. The trunk is tipped with two "fingers," which let the elephant examine, or even pick up, some small objects. The elephant's fan-shaped ears have many small blood vessels through them, which dissipate heat from the blood. The ears can also be used as fans, to keep hot air away from the elephant. The tusks of the African elephant are actually the elephant's incisor teeth. The largest single tusk ever found weighed 236 pounds and was 11 feet and 6 inches long! Legs of the African elephant are columnlike, the same width from top to bottom. Its feet are round and have a pad, almost like the one on a cat's paw, to support the leg. African elephants have five toes on the front feet and three on the back. |
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This is quicktime movie, so click on it to move the elephant. |
The African elephant's most obvious adaptation is its trunk, which is basically an elongated nose. It has many uses, such as sucking up water and spraying it back in its mouth. Its main use, however, is to allow the elephant to reach up in trees to reach the foliage, which it eats. The trunk is tipped with two "fingers," which let the elephant examine, or even pick up, some small objects. The elephant's fan-shaped ears have many small blood vessels through them, which dissipate heat from the blood. The ears can also be used as fans, to keep hot air away from the elephant. The tusks of the African elephant are actually the elephant's incisor teeth. The largest single tusk ever found weighed 236 pounds and was 11 feet and 6 inches long! Legs of the African elephant are columnlike, the same width from top to bottom. Its feet are round and have a pad, almost like the one on a cat's paw, to support the leg. African elephants have five toes on the front feet and three on the back. |
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Elephants are hunted for their ivory tusks. Therefore, their population is dropping. When they are protected, they usually overpopulate their habitat. Then, some of the elephants, starting with the youth, starve. |
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"Elephant."Academic American Encyclopedia. 1993 ed. "Elephant."The World Book Encyclopedia. 1995 ed. |
