Elephants By: Katelyn Schneider

Family An elephant family is ruled by an older female (matriarch) and is made up of her female children and their young. When the matriarch dies, the oldest child takes her place. The average family size is 6 to 12 elephants, but you can also see families ranging from 12 to 20 members. As the males of the family grow older, they start to become more independent, and eventually leave their family and join with other males to form a band of bulls. The two groups ( the female family and the band of bulls) are very close and travel together across the range. They are called “ bond groups”.

Food Elephants need around pounds of food each day! They will sometimes even drink up to 50 gallons of water each day! Elephants have a very wide range of food choices but mainly eat various types of roots, bark, grass leaves, berries and other fruits. Compared to their body weight, elephants eat less than mice! Elephants use their trunks a lot when it comes to getting the food. The trunk can pick up smaller items and tear larger items off of things. The elephant’s trunk is also used for drinking water. They use it like a straw. Their trunk sucks up some water and then squirts it into their mouth.

Elephant Facts The average elephant lives for years Elephants are the largest land mammals on Earth. They can grow up to 13 feet and weigh over 15,000 pounds Elephants use their big ears as fans to cool themselves down. The ears of an adult elephant can be 5 to 6 feet long and 4 feet wide. Elephants usually sleep only 4 to 5 hours each night and sleep while standing. They have excellent balance despite their size.

Habitat Elephants require tons of space, but can adapt to many different places because of their high intelligence level. Some of the places include forests, woodlands, savannas, swampy areas, grassy plains, and barely vegetated desert. Unfortunately, tons of elephants are poached for their ivory, so most elephants are forced to go to the protection of the national parks.

Behavior/Communication Elephants communicate by making deep growling or rumbling noises. They can also communicate by making an “ ear-splitting blast” when they are scared, making the older members form a protective circle around the younger members of the family. Many elephants make low-frequency calls, which can be loud but are too low for humans to hear. These types of sounds allow elephants to communicate over a range of 5 or 6 miles! Their most highly developed sense is smell. Elephants are very social, and often touch or caress one another or entwine their trunks.

Elephant Jokes!! Who weighs 6000 pounds and wears glass slippers? Cinderelephant! Why do elephants have hair on their tails? Why not? What did the cat say to the elephant? Meow! What did Tarzan say when he saw elephants coming over the hill? Here come the elephants over the hill! How do you stop an elephant from charging? Take away his credit cards!

Elephant Run