Like a mischievous child, the elephant calf wandered away from the herd and began to walk along the shore of an African canal. The independent calf ignored the warning horn of a nearby adult and suddenly fell into deep water! But four rescued elephant cows came to the rescue. Two of them climbed up and managed to lift the boy in panic with their fangs until two others parked on the river bank managed to save him.
When her baby was safe, the mother-in-law carefully examined the little culprit, who moaned with his luggage compartment and blew water and found that there was no damage. He also used it to give a strong dose of discipline. If a human mother had witnessed the incident, she would probably have felt a connection to this angry pachyderm grandmother, who then drove the villains out of the water and expressed her mother's concerns.
As a human child, the elephant learns from these experiences and training instructions. In fact, a young elephant will need the guidance of an adult for at least ten years, which is very unusual in the animal kingdom. This can be explained by the fact that an elephant, like a human child, is born with its brain only about a third as large as an adult. Therefore, much of its behavior develops as it grows, and not primarily instinctively, as is the case with most animals.
The parents of a young elephant may have gone on a "dating" and "honeymoon" journey that lasted several months. When the woman finally gets pregnant, she loses interest in her partner. Later, she seeks company with another cow who takes her to an isolated place and wanders away when the baby is born. The pregnancy lasted for up to twenty-two months. And no wonder! The future baby is 1 meter long and weighs about 90 kilos!
The incredible trunk
Much of the calf's first year takes him to learn to use his most valuable asset, the trunk. The sight of a clumsy child stumbling, stomping or twisting and twisting his ugly nose can create some fun moments.
An elephant calf does not suck on the mother's breasts with the trunk but instead allows itself to be wrapped around the head and sucks it with its mouth. But in three or four years, when the mother can no longer bear the pounding of her child's sprouts, she will forcibly wean the thirsty child. And a comedy can reappear when the little lawyer in obvious desperation puts his chest in his mouth and acts like a child sucking his thumb. As the little one grows, his suitcase can even fit into an adult's mouth to examine the chewed food there.
While an adult's upper body can weigh about 135 kg, the thousands of muscles throughout its 2 meter length and the flexible "fingers" at the end make it really versatile. It has a very sensitive nose and due to the animal's very limited hearing and vision, the trunk moves constantly, sniffs the environment like a sensitive antenna and registers shape, structure and temperature. An elongated trunk is also a typical greeting among elephants in what appears to be a measured movement of affection. When people deserve their trust, an extended tribe is accepted as a sign of mutual trust.
This combination of nose and upper lip is not only used for sensitive tasks. It is also a powerful tool that collects loose sand from the teeth and bones when the elephant digs for water, tears grass and loses root remains, reaches trees to harvest fruit or picks, sprays or sprays on the body. . uses dirt to cool and uses fangs to lift objects weighing up to a ton. It is also used as a snorkel when the elephant is paddling in deep water.
With its tubular luggage compartment, an elephant can draw up to 6 liters of water to evaporate or drink. To drink, simply sprinkle some water in your mouth so you can hear it bubbling in your stomach. Thus, it is possible to consume up to 190 liters of water or more per day, along with 225-270 kilos of food, which the multifunction box also puts in the mouth. by its owner. Therefore, if the strain is damaged as a poaching trap, the animal will have a real survival problem. Some disabled elephants ate grass on their knees.
Huge teeth
Chewing on those huge amounts of food requires something unusual in your teeth. Interestingly, only one tooth is used on each side of each jaw, a total of four at a time. What kind of teeth are they! They can weigh 8 or 9 pounds (4 pounds) each and be at least 30 inches long. In addition to the first baby teeth, six sets of these giant molars have been used throughout their lives.
The big mills move like a conveyor belt, the new tooth pushes back used newspaper. The last group arrives when the elephants are in their 40s. When these eventually disappear, the large creature loses the ability to chew and eventually dies from some form of malnutrition at the age of sixty or seventy.
However, elephants are best known for their other, much more visible “teeth”. You could say that they have the most extreme cases of protruding teeth in the world, because their large teeth are actually the front teeth. They are the longest and heaviest teeth of any living animal. Although they continue to grow throughout the life of the elephant, it is estimated that its length can reach up to 5 meters in the female and up to 6 meters in the male.
But these protruding "teeth" take a lot of effort to dig the ground for salt or food and water, to lift heavy weights or to fight for a good cow. A tooth consistently wears the most wear and may even be shorter due to chips and fractures. We can therefore imagine a left-handed or right-handed elephant which is "hand".
When he died in 1974 at the age of 55, Ahmed, the largest known male elephant in Kenya, was grazing 148 kg (67 kg) each. Ahmed's giant front teeth are worth up to $ 10,000 in the ivory market. Hence, it can be easily understood as it is protected by a special decree of the President of Kenya. Your prize was on your head!
Growing
As they age, male elephants don't become fearless protectors of the herd, as you might like to believe. Instead, young bulls usually stay on their own until they easily show signs that they are asserting their "manhood." When this happens, usually between the ages of ten and thirteen, the females in the herd respond by forcing the advancement of the juveniles. Oxen are born of a somewhat unique type, although they can be divided into smaller herds of bulls. Spending time with cows only happens when they have "passionate" intentions with which they are ready to mate.
As you may have guessed, the main herds are largely matriarchal society, usually ruled by a cow related to all other herd members such as mother, sister, or aunt. The strong bond between the cows strengthens the herds and allows the calves to survive.
When an African elephant reaches full growth, it is truly impressive, it is the largest living land animal in the world. African bulls are on average over 3.5 meters tall at the withers and weigh around seven tons. However, an African bull killed in 1955 was over three meters tall and reportedly weighed 12 tonnes - a real giant!
The death of the giants
Are there really so-called “elephant cemeteries”? Well, it seems the elephants are interested in the legs and grass of a dead friend. To test this strange behavior, the bodies were placed next to a group of surfers. They sniffed the animals, approached with diligent enthusiasm, and carefully examined the remains with their lines.
Some observers have even noticed the elephants' attempts to clear the grass, and others have reported that they actually carry their legs up to a mile from the carcass. However, no further confirmation has been given to the "elephant cemeteries" where old animals die in secret. In fact, the above seems to suggest the opposite, an expansion of bones and herbs rather than a collection of bones and herbs in one place.
In a sad case, a newborn calf died some time ago. A ranger saw his mother carry the dead baby on the pond for about three days, with the logs placed softly to hold it in place. Later, the mother was seen alone next to a tree without eating and attacking anyone who came close. When he finally left, after a few days, the keeper discovered that the cow had dug a small hole under the tree and buried the small body there.
The intelligence of these wonderful creatures is considered a factor in the current threats to their existence. Elephants learn that African national parks offer refuge from the extensive slaughter caused by the poisoned weapons and arrows of illegal ivory hunters, farmers and ranchers who occupy much of the country's elephants. The result of this artificial turn in nature is that elephants do not travel hundreds of kilometers but instead migrate to shelters in the park. This is usually followed by an upgrade where trees are cut down and these areas are turned into open pasture that is unsuitable for elephants.
An elephant is beautiful