Elephants are among the largest animals in the world. Tall, heavy, majestic, with enormous ears and imposing tusks, it is difficult for them to go unnoticed. Have you ever wondered where elephants live? Then don't worry! you can lose this item!
The giants of the earth
They are named after elephants the mammals of the order Proboscidea and the family Elephantidae. One of their prehistoric ancestors was the gigantic mammoth. Their life expectancy is 70 years, although there are records of specimens that have reached almost 90 years. It is part of the list of the 10 largest animals in the world, being the largest land animal on the planet.
They are distinguished not only by their size, but also by their large ears capable of perceiving sounds at great distances, and by the trunk With this they not only breathe, since it is their nose, but they also accumulate water, pick up objects and distinguish textures.
Where do African elephants live?
There are two species of African elephants: the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana) and the African bush elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis). Although both live in Africa, they are distributed in different areas:
- African Savannah Elephant: reaches 4 meters tall and weighs 6 tons. It inhabits desert areas of the African continent, such as the sub-Saharan region, where it prefers to stay in areas where it can easily find water and food.
- African Jungle Elephant: It is smaller, measuring only 3 meters and weighing about 5 tons. It lives in humid forest or jungle regions, in Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Guinea and countries in central Africa.
Where do Asian elephants live?
There is a single species of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) which in turn has three subspecies: the Sri Lankan elephant (Elephas maximus maximus), the Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus) and the Indian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus).
This species measures 3 meters and weighs up to 5 tons. It is considered the most peaceful and sociable, as well as being one of the sacred animals of India. The Asian elephant is distributed in several countries of the continent, such as Sri Lanka and Sumatra, which give their names to two of them, but alsoNepal, India, Indochina, Borneo and Thailand It prefers to live in areas of humid tropical forest, where it is easy for it to camouflage itself with the vegetation.
Where does the elephant seal live?
Although it is popularly known as an elephant, the truth is that this marine species is not related to land mammals The genus Mirounga includes two species: the northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris) and the southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina).
The first of them inhabits the cold areas of North America, especially the waters of Alaska and the surroundings of Mexico, while the southern elephant seal is distributed along the Patagonian coast, Australia, the Falklands and Tierra del Fuego
This species is called an elephant because of its appearance, as it has a thick gray skin, weighs up to 1 ton and the males have a short troop. Due to its size, there are few predators of the elephant seal, although females and young specimens can become victims of sharks. Like other s altwater animals, they spend most of their lives in the sea, except when it is time to reproduce, when they prefer the coast to mate and care for their young.
What do elephants eat?
Land elephants, both the African and Asian varieties, are herbivores, feeding on leaves, grass, bark and stems. An adult elephant needs large amounts of food daily to survive, they are capable of ingesting up to 200 kilos of plants
Just as important is water to terrestrial elephants, which is why they try to live in areas where they can access it with ease, because they not only drink it, they also use it to bathe. They consume 200 liters of water daily.
For their part, elephant seals feed on fish, crustaceans and all kinds of animals, especially those that can hunt in the depths.
Why are elephants endangered?
Surely you are wondering how an animal as large as the elephant can be in danger of extinction? The truth is that it is due to the direct action of the human being.
The main threat to elephants in illegal hunting For several centuries, the ivory that forms the tusks of elephants has been considered a material of great value to make objects of all kinds. Due to this, poachers are in charge of unceremoniously killing elephants in order to obtain the profits that this entails.
In the same way, some people go on excursions where the only objective is to hunt the elephants for fun and sport, leaving aside the terrible damage that this means for a species of which there are less than 1 million copies in the world. While sanctuaries are created to protect these mammals, lack of awareness is responsible for reducing their number.
Added to this is the destruction of the habitat of elephants, especially slash-and-burn for planting or expansion of cities, which force the species to migrate to other areas, a process in which not all members of the herd survive, since food and water are scarce.
Do you want to know more about elephants?
Maybe you are left wanting more, for this reason, on our site we explain how to tell the difference between an African elephant and an Asian one, but we have also prepared a special article with unique details about the species, ¡ discover 10 curiosities of the elephant! You'll love them!
