largest of Earth's land mammals

An elephant's trunk is actually a long nose used for smelling, breathing, trumpeting, drinking, and also for grabbing things—especially a potential meal. The trunk alone contains about 100,000 different muscles. African elephants have two fingerlike features on the end of their trunk that they can use to grab small items. (Asian elephants have one.)

Both male and female African elephants have tusks they use to dig for food and water and strip bark from trees. Males use the tusks to battle one another, but the ivory has also attracted violence of a far more dangerous sort.

Fast Facts

Type:

Mammal

Diet:

Herbivore

Average life span in the wild:

Up to 70 years

Size:

Height at the shoulder, 8.2 to 13 ft (2.5 to 4 m)

Weight:

5,000 to 14,000 lbs (2,268 to 6,350 kg)

Group name:

Herd

Protection status:

Threatened

Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man:

Fast Facts

Type:

Mammal

Diet:

Herbivore

Average life span in the wild:

Up to 70 years

Size:

Height at the shoulder, 8.2 to 13 ft (2.5 to 4 m)

Weight:

5,000 to 14,000 lbs (2,268 to 6,350 kg)

Group name:

Herd

Protection status:

Threatened

Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man: