African Elephant Research -by Kyle Lei

African elephants are amazing mammals, but they are threatened by humans. They live in dense forests and open plains. They weigh 5,000 to 14,000 lbs and their height at the shoulder is 8.2-13 ft. They are herbivores that eat grass, roots, bark, and fruit. An adult can consume 300 pounds of food in a day. A group of elephants is called a herd, but it’s only made out of females (cows). They are also the largest mammals discovered. Their ears are shaped like the continent of Africa, and the ears also radiate heat to keep them cool. They are slightly larger than Asian elephants. They are fond of water and spray it on themselves. They also like spraying dust on themselves so they don’t get burned by the sun (natural sunscreen). African elephants’ trunks are used for drinking, breathing, smelling, trumpeting, and grabbing things. African elephants have 100,000 different muscles in their trunks. They also have two small finger-like features to grab small items. The tusk, on the other hand, are used to dig for food and water, and strip bark from trees. The tusk is made out of ivory. The males use tusks to battle each other, but the ivory tusks attract poachers to kill them for ivory to make into trinkets and other objects. The trade is illegal now but has not been completely eliminated. There used to be a few million African elephants, but now there are 450,000 to 700,000 left. African elephants are endangered.