Elephants grow to about 3 to 4 meters high, they have a birth weight of approximately 120 kg, a male adult weighs up to 6000 kg, adult females around 3500 kg. Elephants live in close family groups, with the oldest female in charge. They roam over their habitat in herds of 15 to 25 animals. They can run at speeds of up to 40 km an hour, and hardly make any sound on their cushioned tree-trunk legs. Their average lifespan is 60 years. The major problem for elephants in today’s Africa is : space. The persisting increase of the human population, less and less land remains for the elephant.
When young males reach adulthood, they separate from the herd and start a solitary hike to find another commune, with females to mate with. Females can give birth every four to five years. A calf is small enough to pass beneath its mother’s stomach until it is a year old. During its first year, an elephant calf will remain close to its mother, never roaming more as a few feet from her side. Up to its fourth year, it is being breastfed. All females take part in raising the young. They have to learn how to operate in the complex social network in which they live their lives. Young ones are very playful, love to play in the mud, and need a considerable amount of time to learn how to get control over their trunk.
The trunkThe trunk is a highly important organ, it serves as a hand, arm, tentacle, trumpet and : shower squirt. With its 40,000 muscles the trunk is a particularly strong instrument that enables the elephant to even pull down trees.
These friendly giants, still hunted for their ivory, treat each other affectionately, and are in contact with their own sort in distant communities. As an expression of their affection and also in their greeting rituals, you can see them entwine their trunks.
Elephants spend 16 hours a day feeding. On average they eat 150 kg a day, and they can drink 135-270 litres of water a day. They seek out water holes where they can also bath and take mud wallows, where they use their long, flexible, prehensile trunks, to suck up water to squirt into their mouths, or to spray over their body to cool down. Not just to attend to the needs of their skin, but also for fun. They love their visits to the water holes. It is not exceptional that they spend an hour or more drinking and playing in and around the water. They are known to be able to swim considerable distances and quite often submerge their entire bodies, leaving only their trunks above the water to enable them to breathe. Often they are totally wrapped up in their play, and it is difficult to tell whether they are just playing, engaged in mock battles or really fighting the established position in the hierarchy.
Sleep in standing positionAt mid day, the herd follows the matriarch to the shade of thickets or clumps of trees for a rest. Adults generally sleep in a standing position, though they do sometimes lie down. Young calves generally sleep lying down, with the corporal protection of the group.
Encroached upon by man and his need to plant crops, the elephants’ territory is rapidly narrowed. The free existence of the herds has nearly come to an end already. Even the survival of the species is in danger.
Survival lies within natural parks and reserves, where elephant and human interest can be kept separate. Increasingly confined to smaller areas, elephants can cause rapid and dramatic change of their environment, and because of this and to keep the population at manageable levels, elephants are culled, females are treated to become infertile, or, in most positive circumstances, entire herds are being relocated to other parts of Africa. This incidentally is a very costly affair.
Climate problemsIn the perspective of tourists, the African savannas, the vast plains and forested areas are paradise for herds of antelopes, zebra, buffalo, wildebeest, giraffes, elephants and other species more. However, climate problems, held off rains, but also encroaching mankind and unfavourable political decisions make it more and more difficult to maintain natural habitats for the many animals. Moreover, illegal hunting parties are being organised to date, and it is hard to bring the ongoing poaching activities to an end.
The African elephant therefore, unfortunately, is yet an endangered species.
These photo's are made by Fred Hoogervorst. Visit his website:
www.fredhoogervorst.com
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