August 12 is World Elephant Day! Elephants are humongous, beautiful, majestic animals that are loved and cherished by many people and cultures, but there aren’t too many of them left due to poaching, loss of habitat, and mistreatment. Let’s celebrate World Elephant Day by learning some fun facts about elephants and how we can work together to make sure they are cared for and protected so we can continue to love them and learn about them.
- 1. Did you know that elephants are the largest land animals in the world? Specifically, the largest elephant is the adult male African Bush elephant, standing up to 10 feet tall and weighing around 13,200 pounds on average! That’s as tall as a U-haul moving truck and as heavy as a small school bus! A baby elephant weighs 264 pounds on average. Big bundles of love!
- 2. Elephants go to the gym a lot – just kidding! – but they are very muscular! Humans have about 600-700 muscles in our bodies, whereas elephants have between 40,000 and 150,000 muscles in their trunks. Whoa! They use their trunks like a big straw to drink water and to snorkel when swimming.
3. Speaking of elephant trunks, their trunks can hold up to 2 gallons of water. That’s some MAJOR hydration!
4. When you were first born, you couldn’t stand, walk or talk, and it probably took you some time to do them on your own. Well, elephants are able to stand 20 minutes after birth and walk an hour after birth. After two days, they are able to walk, jog and keep up with their families during migration.
5. Do you remember what you ate for breakfast last Monday? I sure don’t, but ask an elephant, and they might remember what they ate years ago! Well, maybe not, since elephants can’t talk, but their temporal lobe, the area of the brain associated with memory, is much larger and more dense than our human brains, which means they have a much larger memory bank than we do.
6. Elephants are big and hold a lot of weight, so they need a lot of food. Elephants can spend up to 75% of their day just eating. They are herbivores, which means they only eat plants. They eat grass, shrubs, herbs, fruits, leaves, and tree bark. In order to remain full of energy and healthy, elephants need to consume around 330 pounds of food daily – that’s like eating almost two refrigerators!
7. Elephant tusks are actually teeth! Whoa, could you imagine if you had teeth like that? Well, technically, you do! Elephant teeth are actually enlarged incisors that appear in baby elephants when they are around two years old and never stop growing. Humans have incisor teeth, too (ours stop growing, though). Yours would be your front four top teeth and your front four bottom teeth. Their tusks are used to help with eating, like prying bark off a tree to eat or digging up shrubs to chew. Unfortunately, their beautiful teeth are also why they are facing danger. Their tusks are made of ivory, which is used to make many things like jewelry, dishes, statues, chess sets, and other things. Ivory has historically been seen as a sign of wealth. Poachers hunt elephants to take their tusks and sell them.
8. Elephants communicate by using their bodies, but also by feeling vibrations. They communicate using sounds that can sound like a trumpet, low growls that are sometimes too low for humans to hear, touch, scent, and sometimes even seismic sounds that create vibrations in the ground. The elephants can feel the vibrations through their bones. Sometimes, elephants even PURR like cats when they are in good moods.
9. Sunscreen is important to wear for humans AND elephants! Elephants create their own sunscreen by throwing mud and sand on themselves after a good river bath. The sand and mud coats their skin and protects them from the super hot sun.
10. You can tell African elephants apart from Asian elephants by looking at their ears! African elephants have bigger ears, shaped like the continent of Africa. Asian elephants have smaller ears, shaped like the country India.
Those are some cool facts about our big land friends, right? If we want to continue to learn about elephants and help to preserve them, here’s some ways to do just that. You can talk about elephants with people you meet and educate them, just like you educated yourself reading this! You and your guardians can support organizations that help elephants such as African Conservation Foundation or Born Free. You can do your best to take care of the world we share with elephants, such as recycling and reusing materials. No matter how small you may think it is, any effort to make our world a better place and keep the animals that share it with us safe is huge! Here are some fiction and non-fiction books about elephants, just to keep them on your mind and have fun learning! Thank you in advance for helping to keep our elephants safe and happy! Happy World Elephant Day!
Non-fiction Books about Elephants
Elephants! Strange and Wonderful by Laurence Pringle Illustrated by Meryl Henderson
Learn all about the elephant in this nonfiction picture book that explores every aspect of these giant mammals.
Baby Elephant Joins the Herd by Ben Richmond
“A baby elephant is born in the African savannah. She joins a group of elephants, called a herd. Follow along as the calf experiences eating, playing, and using her trunk during her first years of life. Baby Elephant Joins the Herd is filled with facts that will engage young readers in a fun way. Follow along as one baby elephant explores the world around her.”
-Jacket
Grandma Elephant’s in Charge by Martin Jenkins; illustrated by Ivan Bates
Describes the behavior of elephants in a family group, particularly the role of the older female elephants.
Once Upon an Elephant by Linda Stanek; illustrated by Shennen Bersani
“From slowing wildfires to planting seeds, one animal is the true superhero that keeps the African savanna in balance. Elephants dig to find salt that other animal lick, their deep footprints collect water for small creatures to drink, and they eat young trees to keep the forest from overtaking the grasslands. In every season, the elephants are there to protect the savanna and its residents – but what would happen if the elephants were only “once upon a time”? Read along to discover the important role this keystone species plays in the savanna and explore what would happen if the elephants vanished.”
– Provided by Publisher
Elephants Remember: A True Story by Jennifer O’Connell
“This nonfiction picture book tells the story of Lawrence Anthony and the deep bond he forged with the matriarch of the herd he saved at his animal reserve in South Africa. When Lawrence died, the matriarch led all the elephants from remote parts of the reserve in a procession to his home, where they gathered to mourn him. They returned on the same day at the same time for the next two years because elephants remember.”
Fiction Books about Elephants
How the Elephant Got His Trunk by Rudyard Kipling; retold by Anna Milbourne; illustrated by John Joven
Rudyard Kipling’s classic ‘Just So’ story, retold for young readers. According to this much-loved fable, elephants didn’t always have long trunks, that is, until one day when the elephant’s child could contain his curiosity no longer, stepping closer than he should have to the crocodile.
The Secret Elephant: Inspired by a True Story of Friendship by Ellan Rankin
Inspired by a true story, a remarkable friendship between a baby elephant and her keeper shows that kindness is never forgotten. Includes a note about the zookeeper named Denise Weston Austin who protected the baby Asian elephant named Sheila during World War II in Belfast.
Surviving The Wild: Star the Elephant by Remy Lai
“Star the Elephant and his herd are searching for a new home. But when Star is separated from his family, he must journey alone into the great unknown. He’ll come face to face with giant spiders, the vast ocean beyond his island, and strange humans. Can Star find his way back to his family?”
– Provided by Publisher
Captain Awesome and the Missing Elephants by Stan Kirby; illustrated by George O’Connor
“On a class field trip to the Sunnyview Memorial Zoo, Eugene McGillicudy’s favorite animals–the elephants–are missing! Is Randy the tour guide really the evil Raging Radonkey, trying to ruin the field trip? Can the Sunnyview Superhero Squad save the day and find the elephants?”
– Provided by Publisher
Elephants Cannot Dance! by Mo Willems
Gerald the elephant is certain that he cannot dance but his friend Piggie convinces him to try.
