Facts About Elephants

There are three living species of elephant: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant.

African bush elephants are the largest land animals on Earth, with large males weighing up to about 14,000 pounds (6,350 kg).

Asian elephants are smaller than their African cousins, with large males weighing up to roughly 11,000 pounds (5,000 kg).

Elephants are herbivores that can eat several hundred pounds of food a day, including grass, leaves, fruit, and bark.

Elephants communicate through a mix of vocalizations, body language, and touch, including deep infrasonic rumbles that are too low for humans to hear but can travel for miles.

Elephants have excellent long-term memories and can recognize other elephants, people, and locations for years, even decades.

Elephants are highly social and live in matriarchal herds led by the oldest and most experienced female.

Wild elephants can live 60 to 70 years, making them one of the longest-lived land mammals.

Elephants are one of the few animals known to recognize themselves in a mirror, a sign of self-awareness shared with great apes, dolphins, and magpies.

Elephants have an exceptional sense of smell and are believed to be able to detect distant water sources, in some cases from several miles away.

Elephants are strong swimmers and can use their trunks as natural snorkels while swimming in deep water.

Elephant pregnancies last about 22 months, the longest gestation period of any mammal.

An elephant's trunk contains no bones and is packed with tens of thousands of muscles, giving it the strength to uproot trees and the precision to pick up a single blade of grass.

Elephants are a keystone species: by knocking down trees, digging waterholes, and dispersing seeds through their dung, they help shape the habitats that many other species depend on.

Both male and female African elephants can grow tusks, while among Asian elephants tusks are typically only found in males.