Aren't we lucky to share the planet with these incredibly smart giants?
African elephants are the world's largest land animals. They can weigh up to 6 tonnes. No surprises that an adult elephant can eat up to 300 pounds of food in a single day.
Did you know that the trunk is actually an extension of the upper lip and nose? It is an important multitasking "tool", which contains 100,000 different muscles, used for communication but also for handling objects, including food.
Tusks, which are in fact large modified incisors growing throughout lifetime, are used for marking, feeding, digging. They are also used during fights exclusively by males. But what you may not know is that an African elephant is right- or left-tusked, the same way people are right- or left- handed. The preferred tusk is generally the blunter and shorter one.
What about elephants' very large ears? Not exactly "the better to hear you with my dear!". The massive ears help radiate excess heat. These mammals also have a special weapon against the excessive sun: spraying their skin with a protective coating of dust - homemade sunscreen.
Elephants's social structure is fascinating - herds composed of related females and their calves. As for the males, they usually live alone but can frequently form small groups with other males. Elephants can live up to 70 years. Females are usually fertile between 25 and 45. Males need to reach 20 years of age to successfully compete for mating. Usually, a single calf is born after a gestation period of 22 months.
But why are they considered ‘landscape architects’? Well, as they move around and feed (fruit, grasses and bark), they create glades in wooded areas, allowing new plants to grow and forests to renew naturally. And then there’s seed dispersal. When elephants eat seed-bearing plants and fruits, the seeds often reappear undigested. That is how a lot of plants spread.
Although elephants are found in most of the areas covered by our tours, there is one place where these creatures are at their splendour - Amboseli National Park, also known as the "Land of Giants", where impressive elephants carry enormous tusks. The elephant sightings are outstanding and Kilimanjaro in the background is the final wow factor.
Did you know we have 4 tours covering Amboseli National Park?