I love animals - Information and questions from a video for small kids - Part 11 Elephants

What a strange animal you are old elephant... you have a tail at the back and one swinging from your face hahaha....  we will just not say that out loud, because we do not want to make such a big animal cross.

No, all jokes aside, elephants are beautiful, caring animals and we as humans can learn a lot from how they react towards one another and look after each other.

There are two main types of elephants - The Indian and African elephant,  You can tell the difference by looking at their ears.  The African elephant has much larger ears.

We have learned about the fastest animal on land and the tallest.  Elephants are the biggest land animals.

• Which animal is the fastest and tallest animal on land?
• Why do we need to say 'on land'?  Are the fast, long and big animals in other places?

Another difference between the two types of elephants are that with the African elephant, the male and female has tusks, but the Indian elephant only the male has tusks.  They use their tusks to dig for roots to eat.

• What are the tusks?
• What is it made of and why is it something that people want?

The female elephants are called 'cows' and they can have their first baby when they are 12 years old.  They are pregnant for 22 months before the baby is born.  That is almost 2 years.  The mother elephant and all the other female elephants help looking after the baby elephants.  They are very caring, but also discipline the little ones if necessary, just like humans do.  The are sensitive and care deeply for each other and help one another when they  need it.

The female elephants stay together in a herd for most of their life, but the males will leave the herd at about 13 years of age and live mostly by themselves.

Baby elephants are very cute and gets up to all types of mischief, just like little kids.

Elephants need up to 210 liter of water per day and also spend a lot of time eating grass, leaves and roots.  They are herbivores.

• What do herbivores eat?
• What do carnivores eat?

The elephant has a lot of blood vessels in its ears and it helps to cool him down.   The trunk is full of muscles and is a very sensitive part of the elephant.  It does not only use it to lift up food and suck up water, but it can also feel the temperature and size of an object.  The trunk can grow up to 2 meters long.

Elephants can swim very well and they will use their trunks like a snorkel to breathe.

• These are truly amazing animals - watch the video and answer the questions.

1. What is the largest animal on earth?
2. How can you tell the different types of elephants apart?
3. How much do elephants eat and how much can they weigh?
4. What can an elephant not do?
5. What do the use their trunks for?
6. How are people endangering elephants?

Team South Africa banner designed by @bearone