African Elephant

 Elephants have always evoked, cause and will cause an increased interest in people. Their huge size, power and strength inspire fear and respect. Elephants occupy the second position in the ranking of the largest mammals in the world. Let me remind you that the first place is deservedly got the blue whale.
In turn, the largest representative of the African savanna slonoobraznyh is an elephant, whose body length of up to 6-7.5 meters and the height at the shoulders of 2.5-3.5 meters.
 In the world there are only 3 types of elephants, two of which belong to the genus African elephants (the savanna and forest elephants), and 1 - for the Asian (Indian elephant). African elephant habitat is quite extensive - it is the whole area, located south of the Sahara desert. But he has some fragmentation caused by a strong decrease in the number of these animals since the XIX century. For example, the savannah elephants are no longer seen on the territory of The Gambia, Burundi and Mauritania. For the most part they are found only in national parks and reserves, which are safe.
 They are found on all areas, regardless of terrain. What matters is that there was enough food, water and shade, saving these animals from overheating.
 African elephants are larger than the Indian.
The average weight of males is 5 tons, females - 2.5-3 tons, but among them there are and these giants up to 4 meters in height and weighing 12 tons. One such elephant was even listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest land mammal. His weight was 12.24 tons.
But not only the overall dimensions are the hallmarks of these two species. Another important parameter is the size and shape of the ears. In African elephants, they are almost 1.5-2 times greater than that of India. These large ears serve as a kind of thermostat. The large surface area and a large number of capillaries allows the elephant to get rid of the overheating. Ears flapping in the hot air currents created that greatly accelerate the process of heat transfer.
 Only elephants can boast such an amazing body as the trunk, which was formed by fusion of the nose and upper lip. African elephants have a length of approximately 1.5 meters and weighs about 135 lbs. The trunk consists of more than 40,000 muscles and does not contain any bones, which is why he is so flexible and strong enough. Its main purpose is to procuring food. Elephants can use it to grope and pick up quite small objects. This process is assisted two at the end of the trunk.
In addition, the trunk still performs many other functions: the role of the pump while drinking water or bathing at the end of the trunk of the olfactory organs are located, it serves as a tool for communication and warning of danger. In addition, elephants are very fond of touching each other for what they stroke their relatives on each side of its trunk.
 Another ornament, and at the same time, a formidable weapon elephants are tusks. The males of African elephants, they grow to 2.5 meters and weigh about 60 kg. Tusks grow throughout an animal's life, so it is possible to determine its age. With their help, elephants can easily defend against any African predator.
Tusks are incisors of the upper jaw. In addition to these "teeth" of the elephants also have molars. They are a little bit, 4-6 pieces, but they are serious dimensions. Each of them can reach 30 centimeters in length and weigh about 3.7 kg. Throughout the life of the elephant molars changed only 3 times: milk - permanent - and even in adulthood. But the teeth tend to wear out (to 65-70 years). After that, the elephant dies of starvation, as no longer able to grind their food.
Elephants can be called a thick-skinned, in the truest sense of the word. The thickness of their skin reaches 2-4 cm However, it is quite sensitive to various injuries. So the elephants as a skin care make water, mud and dust baths, avoid the animal from annoying insects.
Elephants move almost silently. This is possible thanks to the special springy mass at the base, located under the skin.
 Another bad seeing elephants, but this disadvantage is compensated by an excellent sense of smell and hearing. During the communication, they use the language of touch or make loud trumpet sounds that are heard within a radius of 10 kilometers.
African elephants live in small family groups where there is a matriarchy. Each "family" consists of the main female, her older daughters to their calves and still immature offspring (males and females).