The Life of Elephants

Classified into two primary species, the African Elephant or Loxodonta africana, which has two subspecies, savanna and forest elephants, and the smaller-eared Asian Elephant or Elephas maximus, which has four subspecies, including Sri Lankan, Mainland, Borneo and Sumatran. Known for being the largest land mammal on earth, elephants possess massive bodies, large ears and a long trunk, which can be used to pick up objects, trumpet warnings or greetings and suck up water for drinking or bathing.

Left or Right Dominant Tusks

Many elephants also sport tusks, which, much like left and right handedness in humans, elephants possess left or right dominant tusks, used for trunk protection, lifting objects, gathering food and defending themselves from predators, while in the case of dominant males, as war weapons in battles over females. No matter the physical variations between species, elephants are organized into complex, female-dominant social structures that care for their young in communal settings, while non-dominant male elephants generally live in isolation or in small bachelor herds.

Long Gestation Period

Birthing a solitary calf every four to five years, female elephants gestate their young for 22 months—the longest gestation period of any known land or aquatic mammal. Female calves generally stay with their maternal herd for the rest of their 48 to 70-year lifespan, while males generally leave their birth herd after they reach puberty, although they may congregate in larger groups where food or natural resources are most abundant. Standing upwards of ten feet tall and 21 feet in length, over the last 4,000 years of human history, humans have tamed elephants to take advantage of their mighty strength, although undomesticated groups of elephants have been known to raid farms and villages, goring or trampling any humans that get in the way, leading to an average 500 deaths a year caused by hostile elephant encounters.

Species in Decline

Once abundant throughout Africa and Asia, elephant populations have experienced significant declines over the last century, primarily due to illegal ivory trade poaching for African elephants, while Asian elephant populations have declined due to habitat erosion and the resulting human-elephant conflicts that arise, making the life of elephants, a massive yet threatened species of the animal kingdom.