Elephant

Elephants are the world’s largest land animal. They are known to be very gentle and

intelligent. They can easily be recognized because of their large ears, tusks, and trunk.

Elephants can be found in Africa and southern

Asia. They live in various habitats such as Fast Facts

grasslands, wetlands, deserts, and forests. Type: Mammal
Size: 21 feet long
Their tusks can be as long as 33 feet. They
Weight: 13,000 pounds
mostly use them to dig or scrape bark off of
Life span: 70 years
trees, but they can also use them to fight.
Habitat: Various
Population: 750,000
Their trunk is incredibly useful. It can grow up
Diet: Herbivore
to 6 feet long, and is used not only to pick up

food and pull down tree

branches, but also to

smell and to drink. An

elephant can suck

as much as 2 gallons

of water into its trunk in

one go. It then sticks the

tip of its trunk into its mouth

and pours the water.

There are two types of elephants: the African elephant, and the Asian elephant.

The African elephant is the largest type. They can grow up to 11 feet tall, and weigh as

much as 15,000 pounds. Both male and female African elephants have tusks. Asian elephants

are a bit different as only the males have tusks. You can also spot the difference by looking

at their ears; African elephants have larger ears than Asian elephants.

Elephants are herbivores, so they only eat plants. Their favorite food includes bushes, grass,

and roots. Since they are so incredibly big, they need to eat a lot. They eat up to 400 pounds

and drink as much as 30 gallons of water per day! Elephants eat for up to 16 hours a day.

Once male elephants are about 13 years old, they leave the group and live alone. The

females live together in herds and are usually led by the oldest female, called the Matriarch.

Due to their enormous size and

strength, elephants don’t have many

natural enemies. Only young

elephants are sometimes

attacked by lions. However,

they are frequently hunted

by humans for their ivory

tusks. Today, the African

elephant is classified as

vulnerable with about

700,000 living in the wild.

The Asian elephant is listed

as endangered. Only 50,000

remain in the wild.

Are the statements below true (T) or false (F)?

1) Elephants are the largest land ( ) 7) All elephants have tusks. ( )

animals in the world.
8) Elephants are plant-eaters. ( )
2) Elephants live in Asia and ( )
9) They spend most of the day ( )
Africa.
eating.
3) Elephants only live in forests. ( )
10) Male elephants leave their ( )
4) They use their tusks to pick up ( ) herd when they are teenagers.
food.
11) A herd of elephants is led by a ( )
5) They use their trunk to suck up ( ) male called a patriarch.
insects from the ground.
12) There are more African ( )
6) The African elephant is larger ( ) elephants than Asian elephants.
than the Asian elephant. ( )

What are the differences between African

and Asian elephants?

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________