“Nature’s great masterpiece, an elephant; the only harmless great things” …John Donne

Elephants! When these giant creatures roam in the wilds, they create a sensation that entrances the one who observes this marvelous scene. These mighty mammals are the largest land animals. They are members of the Elephantidae family of the Proboscidae order. There are basically two recognized species of elephants: The Asian Elephants and African Elephants.

These giant creatures have various unique features that make them distinctive from other wild beings.

A few of the unique features of elephants are:

1. Usually female elephants live in herds. The veteran female elephant leads this herd, however, and the male elephants are generally solitary and shift from herd to herd. Each member in the female herd helps each other to find food and care for their young ones. These creatures do not lie down to sleep as their straight legs provide them an adequate amount of support. They can converse with their herd from far away by using sounds that are extremely low, too low for the human ear to recognize.

2. Elephants can converse with each other by creating sounds known as “tummy rumbles.”

3. Elephants in general walk about 4 mph.

4. Elephants know how to swim for lengthy distances.

5. Elephants spend almost sixteen hours a day eating food.

two elephants in the field during sunset
Image Credit: Mylon Ollila, Unsplash

6. Elephants have the biggest brains of all the members of animal kingdom.

7. A Fully-grown Indian Elephant can reach a height of more than 8 feet.

8. Adult Indian elephants are about 10,000 plus pounds in weight.

9. In general, one tusk of an elephant is shorter than the other. This happens because the elephant uses one of its tusks more often for things. It’s the same as for people, being either right or left-handers, the Elephants will also rely upon the tusk they use more frequently.

10. Elephants are able to give birth every three to four years. The period of gestation is nearly two years.

young and adult elephants
Image Credit: Antoine Plüss, Unsplash

11. The Babies weigh around 250 pounds when they are born.

12. The elephant herd makes a circle around a mother elephant when a baby elephant is born. They generate this circle to guard her from harm. A number of the elephants nudge the baby elephant to support as it’s standing up after birth.

13. It is fairly amazing to know that the elephants can catch one anothers trumpeting sounds up to 8 kilometers (5 miles) away.

14. Elephants can become suntanned; therefore they shield themselves with sand.

15. Elephants get frightened of bees.

elephant under the tree
Image Credit: Harshil Gudka, Unsplash

16. This mammoth creature is the lone mammal, other than the Homo sapiens, to have a chin.

17. It is quite clear by their structure that elephants eat a lot. Moreover, they also drink nearly 50 gallons of water every day. These giants can go for around four days without water. It is remarkably fascinating to know that they can dig wells with the help of their tusks if needed.

18. The trunk of an elephant can certainly be a lethal weapon. The trunk can pick up something weighing around 450 pounds, perhaps more. Remarkably, the trunk has nearly 150,000 muscles.

19. These giants have no natural predators. However, lions at times will prey on weak or young elephants in the wild. The foremost threat to elephants is from human beings through poaching and alterations to their haunt.

20. The potential for an elephant to travel a long distance makes them extremely handy in terms of jungle safari. They can walk for miles on their physically powerful feet. For this reason, elephants are extensively used for jungle safaris in India, especially in the national parks. An Elephant safari in a national park is a great way to experience the spellbinding traits of this giant creature.

close up elephant on the field
Image Credit: David Clode, Unsplash

These giant creatures have many startling, and often concealed, facts about them. A single sight of this mammoth creature is enough to spellbind all!

Contributing author Jessica Frei is a wildlife admirer and nature lover. She loves to explore the wildlife of different countries. She has visited many popular national parks


Featured Image Credit: Wolfgang Hasselmann, Unsplash