A Colossal Wonder with a Story to Tell

The African continent is home to a wide range of biodiversity, from the majestic lions that prowl the savannah to the nimble antelope that dart through the grasslands. But one creature stands out, both in size and significance: the African elephant. This majestic animal, with its towering stature and gentle demeanour, has etched its mark not only on the landscapes it roams but also on the hearts of those who have witnessed its grandeur.

The Mysteries and Realities of Elephant Tusks

The Evolutionary Role of Tusks

Believe it or not, an elephant's tusks are actually evolved teeth that offer the species numerous advantages. These elongated incisors grow from the upper jaw and have a range of functions, including digging for water, lifting objects, and stripping bark from trees for sustenance. They're also used defensively against predators and, in the case of males, as weapons during disputes over territory or mates.

More Than Just an Appendage

Interestingly, like humans, elephants show "handedness" or, in this context, "tuskedness." Elephants may favour either their left or right tusk for different tasks, leading to noticeable wear and tear on the dominant tusk over time. Both male and female African elephants sport these incredible appendages, whereas in Asian elephants, only certain males have them.

The Vital Connection to the Trunk

Besides their standalone functions, tusks play a significant role in protecting the elephant's trunk. This multi-functional organ serves various crucial roles, including breathing, drinking, and feeding. Thus, the tusks act like a protective barrier, making them invaluable to an elephant's survival.

Tusks Don't Grow Back

Contrary to some misconceptions, elephant tusks don't regenerate. They are teeth, firmly rooted in the elephant's skull and filled with nerve endings. If a tusk is damaged, broken, or removed, it's a permanent loss for the elephant.

Differences in Tusks

African savanna elephants typically have curved tusks, while their forest-dwelling counterparts possess straighter ones. Tusks can grow at a rate of 15–18 cm a year, depending on diet and other environmental factors. Astoundingly, a fully grown male's tusks can reach lengths of up to 3 meters and weigh as much as 100 kg each.

Elephant Teeth

Whilst Elephants impressive tusks often steal the show, their teeth also have a story to tell.

Elephants will have six different sets of Molars in their lifetime and they grow from the back and make their way toward the front. These aren't any ordinary teeth either—they're flat, wide, and have this cool diamond-shaped pattern that helps them grind down all sorts of food.

Baby Teeth to Golden Years

Baby elephants start out with four tiny molars, but they say goodbye to them around their terrible twos. As they grow older, they get new sets of teeth that last longer and longer, until they reach the grand age of 30 to 40. That's when they get their final set of teeth, which need to last them their entire lifetime—sometimes up to 70 years.

The Clock is Ticking

Time is of the essence for these last molars. Once they wear down, elephants struggle to munch on their meals. This often leads to malnutrition and even starvation. Some lucky elephants grow a "bonus" seventh molar, but for most old Elephants the lack of teeth is the reason they will die.

Jaws Dropped: The Largest Teeth on Earth!

Move over, whales! Elephants have the biggest teeth around. These massive molars are designed to last longer as the elephant ages. Eventually, they get so worn they transform into something like a shelf, which breaks off and falls out, marking the beginning of an elephant's twilight years.

The Marvellous Elephant Trunk: Nature's Swiss Army Knife

When you think of an elephant, what's the first thing that comes to mind? Is it their massive size, their elegant tusks, or their giant ears? As awe-inspiring as these features are, it's actually their trunks that steal the show when it comes to versatility and complexity.

What Exactly is an Elephant Trunk?

You could say an elephant's trunk is its nose, but that's like saying a Swiss Army knife is just a blade. In the animal kingdom, it's what scientists call a "proboscis"—a term borrowed from the Greek meaning "to feed, to nourish." The trunk combines the elephant's upper lip and nose and is an all-purpose tool, not just for smelling, but for breathing, touching, grasping, and even expressing affection.

An Anatomy Like No Other

What's so incredible about this trunk? Try this on for size: it contains about 40,000 muscles! In contrast, the entire human body has just over 600. And it's not just the muscle count that's jaw-dropping; this two-to-three-meter-long appendage is boneless but incredibly strong, divided into internal and superficial muscles that allow for extraordinary dexterity.

The Sensory Powerhouse

Think a bloodhound has a keen nose? An elephant's trunk is twice as sensitive. It can pick up scents from staggering distances—some say up to 19 kilometers away. If something stinks, they simply swivel their trunks in another direction—no need to hold their breath.

Mighty and Gentle

Not only can an elephant's trunk lift weights of nearly 300 kilograms, tear off tree bark, and dig into the ground, but it's also capable of delicate tasks. Elephants can pick leaves from towering trees, pluck their favourite grasses, and even crack open a monkey nut without smashing it—a feat that showcases their incredible finesse.

A Language of Love and Play

Elephants also use their trunks for social bonding. A tender trunk rub or a playful spray of grass or dust is part of their language of love and camaraderie.

The Water Tank

Elephants can hold up to 12 liters of water in their trunks, which they can then spray over themselves like a personal shower, keeping cool in sweltering conditions.

A Tale of Two Trunks: African vs. Asian Elephants

While both species have fascinating trunks, they're not identical. African elephants have two 'fingers' at the tip for extra dexterity, while their Asian counterparts make do with just one. Asian elephants, however, have more trunk muscles, which helps them perform more complex tasks.

Elephants Brain and Memory

The Wonders of Elephant Cognition: How The Largest Land Animal is Also One of the Smartest

When it comes to intelligence in the animal kingdom, elephants are renowned for their remarkable cognitive abilities. Researchers and ethologists often place these majestic creatures among the world's most intelligent animals, paralleling them with species like dolphins, great apes, and even humans. Let's delve into the fascinating world of elephant cognition to understand what sets these gentle giants apart.

Brain Anatomy and Size

Elephants possess the largest brain of any land animal, weighing just over 5 kilograms (11 pounds). Even when compared to whales, whose body mass is around twenty times larger than that of an elephant, the elephant's brain mass remains impressively large—barely half the mass of a whale's brain. But it's not just the size that's awe-inspiring; an elephant's brain contains approximately 257 billion neurons.

Structural Similarities and Differences with Humans

While generally similar to human brains in terms of connectivity and functional areas, elephant brains have unique structural features. For instance, although once thought to possess a similar number of neurons to humans, it turns out that elephants have about three times as many neurons. However, their cerebral cortex—the seat of higher mental functions—contains about one-third of the number of neurons compared to that of humans.

Learning Over Instinct

One of the most intriguing ways to measure cognitive ability in animals is by comparing the size of the brain at birth to the size of a fully developed adult brain. This proportion gives us an indication of how much an animal relies on learning as opposed to instinct. For most mammals, the brain size at birth is close to 90% of its adult size. In stark contrast, elephants are born with a brain that is only 35% the size of an adult elephant's brain, indicating that a significant amount of their behaviour is learned rather than instinctual. This is corroborated by their long juvenile period and large temporal lobes, which are critical for memory storage.

Extraordinary Neural Abilities

Research has also indicated that elephants have more facial neurons than any other land mammal. African elephants have 63,000 facial neurons, while Asian elephants have 54,000. This may be a contributing factor to their remarkable trunk dexterity. Interestingly, the elephant's cerebellum—the part of the brain responsible for motor control—has 12 times as many neurons as would be expected for a mammal of its size.

The African vs Asian Elephant Brain

It’s worth noting that the African elephant has the largest brain in the animal kingdom, weighing up to 5kg. This is particularly astonishing considering the average weight of an Asian elephant is around 5400kg, and an African elephant can weigh up to 6000kg. By contrast, the human brain is larger when calculated as a proportion of total body weight.

The Remarkable Intelligence and Emotional Complexity of Elephants: More than Just a Legend

For centuries, elephants have captured the human imagination as creatures of remarkable intelligence, social intricacy, and emotional complexity. The stories about these magnificent mammals are not just part of folklore; they are corroborated by years of scientific study.

A Long-Standing Perspective

Going back nearly two millennia, figures like Aristotle have pondered the intellectual and moral depths of elephants. In modern times, accounts of elephants displaying uncanny intelligence continue to surface. For instance, the story of Chadrasekhan, an elephant that refused to endanger a sleeping dog, or tales of elephants cleverly silencing their bells with foliage to stealthily roam in farmers' fields have fascinated us for years. Rench, a scientist who has deeply studied elephant cognition, has noted their incredible teamwork and anticipatory actions, further corroborating the age-old view of their intelligence.

Memory: A Hallmark of Elephant Intelligence

It is well-established that species with larger brains, particularly with a well-developed cerebral cortex, are capable of more advanced learning and memory. Elephants, with their enormous brains, not only fulfill this expectation but exceed it. They remember migratory routes, the voices and scents of other individuals, and even complicated tasks for decades. Their memory isn't just academic—it’s emotionally rich and social.

Human Connections

Elephants also demonstrate an astounding ability to remember human individuals. In one example, Randall Moore reunited with an elephant he had not seen for 12 years, and upon calling her by name, she walked right up to him. Similarly, Joyce Poole recounted her heartwarming reunion with an elephant named Vladimir, affirming the extraordinary long-term memory these animals possess.

Social Memory

Social complexity in elephants is magnified by their advanced social memory. Karen McComb and her colleagues discovered that female elephants could distinguish between the calls of close relatives and those from different families. This intricate social memory enables them to manage and maintain complex social relationships, essential for their survival.

Ecological Memory

Older matriarchs serve as living libraries of ecological knowledge, guiding younger generations through environmental hardships. The desert elephants of Namibia, for instance, have memorised the locations of scarce water sources across enormous home ranges, a vital skill that has saved their herds from devastating droughts.

Sensory Discrimination

Elephants can even discern threats by smell and color. They can differentiate between the scent of a people threatening them and others who is less likely to harm them.

Tool Use and Problem-Solving

Just like primates, elephants use tools for a variety of purposes, from throwing objects to their adversaries to using leafy branches as fly swatters. They even modify these tools to suit their needs better, as was found in a study of Asian elephants.

The Emotional Depth of Elephants

One cannot discuss elephant intelligence without considering their emotional richness. Their ability to empathise is evident in behaviours like comforting distressed individuals or babysitting calves separated from their mothers. This emotional intelligence has been theorized as a key component of their social survival.

The Elephant's Understanding of Death

Perhaps one of the most haunting and beautiful aspects of elephant behaviour is their reaction to death. They display a range of complex behaviours, from guarding the bodies to covering them with foliage, suggesting a deep emotional and potentially cognitive understanding of mortality.

The Continuing Inquiry

What we do know, however, is that elephants are far more than just intelligent—they are emotionally complex, socially intricate, and incredibly resourceful, traits that make them truly exceptional beings in the animal kingdom.

The Social Fabric of Elephant Communities

The Social and Emotional Lives of Elephants: A Symphony of Complex Relationships

In a world where social bonds are increasingly being mediated through screens, the intricate and deeply emotional social structure of elephants stands as a powerful reminder of the importance of community and relationships in the animal kingdom. Elephants, as research and observations show, have one of the most closely knit societies of any living species, rivalling even our own complex human communities in depth and emotional richness.

The Power of Family

According to ethologist Cynthia Moss, who specialises in studying elephants, the family bond among these magnificent creatures is so strong that it can only be separated by death or capture. Moss recounts a poignant tale of a family of African elephants who went to great lengths to aid one of their own who had been fatally wounded by poachers. The elephants leaned in to support the dying family member, attempted to feed her grass, and even began to bury her after she had passed away. The ordeal was emotionally taxing for the elephants; Teresia, the mother, even broke her tusk in the process.

This incident underlines how the loss of a family member, especially a matriarch, can be devastating for an elephant family. Moss notes that some groups never fully recover their organization following such a loss. The emotional pain endures, as observed in mothers who lose their calves and subsequently lag despondently behind their herds.

Altruism and Cooperation

Elephants are not only altruistic within their families or herds but also extend their compassion to other species, including humans. Stories abound of elephants helping humans in distress, such as lifting logs to uncover sleeping dogs or safeguarding injured humans under the shade of a tree.

Their sense of community also extends to their work ethic. Elephants employ cooperative skills, which studies suggest are on par with those of chimpanzees, to forage for food, defend against predators, and even engage in social play. They communicate through a complex system of vocalisations, trunk movements, and even chemical signals.

Matriarchs, Bond Groups, and Clans

The family structures in elephant communities are led by matriarchs, who are often the oldest and most experienced females. These female herds can number from 6 to 20 members, mostly comprising the matriarch, her daughters, and their offspring. Young males typically leave these herds around puberty to either roam alone or join male herds.

Beyond the basic family units, elephants form bond groups and clans. Bond groups are collections of related families who share a home range, often meeting at watering holes and favourite feeding spots for communal interaction. Clans are larger gatherings that may comprise multiple bond groups and families, especially when food and water are abundant.

Lessons for Humanity

The sophisticated social structures, altruistic behaviours, and emotional depth found in elephant communities prompt us to reexamine our own understanding of societal relationships. As the early modern English writer Edward Topsell noted, elephants offer "great and ample demonstration of the power and wisdom of almighty God."

In a time when social fragmentation seems more the norm than the exception, elephants serve as living symbols of the enduring power of community, familial bonds, and mutual aid. Their intricate societies remind us that survival is not just a matter of individual prowess but is deeply entwined with our ability to forge and sustain meaningful relationships.

Feeding: The Gentle Giants' Diet

The Voracious Vegetarians: Understanding the Elephant's Diet

Among the many fascinating aspects of elephants, their eating habits are nothing short of extraordinary. The African proverb, "An elephant eats with its trunk but kills with its feet," does more than simply conjure an image of the giant herbivore—it provides a window into the pivotal role diet plays in the life of an elephant.

Eating by the Numbers

It's no small feat to feed an elephant. These gentle giants consume between 149 and 169 kilograms of vegetation every single day. Remarkably, they spend nearly 80% of their day—roughly 16 to 18 hours—just in the act of feeding. Elephants have a wide-ranging palate, feasting on grasses, small plants, bushes, fruit, twigs, tree bark, and roots.

A Balanced Diet

Their choice of food varies depending on the season and their habitat. For example, during dry periods, elephants gravitate toward more fibrous sustenance like twigs, branches, and barks. One of their favourite sources of nutrition is tree bark, which is rich in calcium and roughage that aids digestion. In this context, an elephant's tusks serve as vital eating utensils, carving into tree trunks to tear off strips of this nutritious bark.

The Importance of Water

Water plays an equally critical role in an elephant's diet. An average elephant requires between 68.4 to 98.8 liters of water each day, though they can consume as much as 152 liters or more. In fact, an adult male elephant can drink an astonishing 212 liters of water in less than five minutes.

The Geophagic Gourmet

To supplement their herbivorous diet, elephants engage in what is termed "geophagy," or the consumption of soil. They utilise their tusks to churn the ground and dislodge pieces of soil rich in salt and minerals. This behaviour has produced some remarkable alterations to landscapes. For instance, African elephants have hollowed out deep caverns on a volcano mountainside on the Ugandan border, seeking salt licks and minerals. Similarly, hills in India and Sumatra have been carved by Asian elephants in their quest for these vital nutrients. These features not only aid the elephants but also serve as invaluable resources for a wide array of native wildlife, providing both food and shelter.

Conservation Concerns

Understanding an elephant's diet is more than a matter of curiosity; it's crucial for their conservation. As human activities increasingly encroach on their habitats, ensuring that these massive herbivores have access to their natural food sources becomes imperative for their survival. The reality is, these majestic creatures are not just big eaters but vital participants in their ecosystems, facilitating resources for other animals and playing a significant role in maintaining the health of their habitats.

With their formidable appetites and complex dietary needs, elephants are a compelling study in how nature's giants meet their nutritional demands. By appreciating and safeguarding these magnificent creatures, we do more than conserve a species; we protect an entire ecosystem that hinges on the well-being of its most iconic residents.

Cultural Significance: Creators of the Universe

The African elephant's significance transcends its ecological role. Many African cultures revere the elephant, not just as a creature of power and strength but also of wisdom and memory. Some legends speak of elephants as creators of the world. In certain myths, it's believed that the world was created by the powerful tread of an elephant, its vast presence carving out valleys and mountains. Such tales, passed down through generations, underline the elephant's deep-rooted importance in human culture.

The Sad Evolution of Elephants and Tusks

The allure of ivory has been the elephant's bane. Behind each piece of ivory, whether a carved ornament or a full tusk, is the tragedy of a slain elephant. A shocking 20,000 elephants are poached annually for their tusks, fuelling an illegal trade predominantly catering to markets in Asia.

The frequent targeting of these big tuskers has not only led to the tragic loss of these magnificent creatures, it is also diminishing the gene pool, reducing the chances of future generations inheriting these lengthy tusks.

In regions with high poaching levels, there's a growing trend of elephants being born without tusks. This is most evident in Mozambique's Gorongosa National Park, where past conflict led to a staggering 90% of the elephant population being hunted for ivory.

Genes for tusklessness in female elephants have existed for some time, but due to the pressures of poaching, these genes are now being passed down more frequently. As a result, about half of the female elephants born in this area now lack tusks.

Might Appear as Benefit

At first glance, this might appear to be a beneficial evolutionary shift, reducing the animals' desirability to poachers. However, this adaptation has a deadly twist for male elephants. In the populations affected by this change, the male to female offspring ratio has drastically shifted, with females now making up two-thirds of all new births. This gender imbalance could pose significant challenges for the species' long-term survival.

Moreover, the absence of tusks has led these elephants to alter their eating habits. Instead of their traditional diet of legumes and woody plants, they're consuming more grass. This dietary shift has a ripple effect across the ecosystem. Elephants are a keystone species, meaning their behaviors impact various other species and the environment at large. Tasks they once performed, like clearing pathways, removing undergrowth, and digging water holes using their tusks, are compromised, affecting the ecosystem's overall health.

Thus, while the rise of tuskless elephants may seem like a win against poaching on the surface, the implications for both the species and their habitats could be grave.Tusks, which are essentially elongated incisors, have long been sought after for their ivory, a valuable material used in various artifacts, jewellery, and ornaments. As a result, elephants, especially genetically unique tuskers, have been at the centre of illegal poaching activities.

Elephant tusks are more than just remarkable physical features; they're tools essential for an elephant's survival and well-being. However, they have also become the reason for the species' endangerment. Understanding their importance and the tragedy behind the ivory trade is crucial for anyone committed to the conservation of these magnificent creatures.

The Enduring Allure of Ivory

Ivory has been a coveted material for thousands of years, revered for its unique texture, softness, and carvability. Although ivory can be harvested from various animals like walruses, rhinoceros, and narwhals, elephant ivory stands out as the most highly sought after. The demand for this particular type of ivory is so high that the tusks of a single adult elephant can fetch a price worth over ten times the average annual income in many African countries. But what drives this insatiable demand?

The Cultural Significance of Ivory

Much like diamonds, ivory is a natural substance with little intrinsic value but enormous cultural and social importance. However, unlike diamonds—which became a symbol of love and commitment mainly in the 20th century due to effective marketing campaigns—ivory's allure has ancient roots. According to the book "Ivory's Ghosts" by John Frederick Walker, ivory artifacts in China date back to as early as the sixth millennium BCE. By the Shang Dynasty (approximately 1600 to 1046 BCE), a highly developed carving tradition was already in place, and pieces from this era can be found in museums worldwide today.

Ivory's Versatility

Ivory's appeal isn't just skin-deep; it has also served practical purposes over the centuries. Its properties—durability, ease of carving, and lack of splintering—made it ideal for a multitude of uses. Over the years, ivory has been transformed into buttons, hairpins, chopsticks, spear tips, needles, and even piano keys. Steinway, a leading piano manufacturer, continued to use ivory for its keys until as recently as 1982. Although synthetic polymers have now largely replaced ivory, their introduction wasn't without challenges. Early synthetic materials lacked the tactile qualities that made ivory so cherished by pianists, and it took years of research to develop adequate alternatives.

The Modern Dynamics

In today's world, technological advancements have provided alternative materials that can perform many of ivory's functions. Yet, the demand for ivory remains strong, especially in China, where it has deep cultural roots as a symbol of luxury and status. This continued demand poses a dangerous threat to elephants, driving the illegal poaching and trading that kills thousands of these majestic creatures every year.

The Complicated Road Ahead

So where does this leave us and the elephants who pay the ultimate price for this demand? The current approach leans towards increasing regulation and monitoring to drive up the cost of ivory, making it less accessible. However, this might have an unintended consequence: by making ivory even rarer, its cultural value could skyrocket, perpetuating the cycle of demand and poaching.

Some Interesting Facts on Elephants

• Elephants recognize themselves in a mirror—something few animals are known to do.

• Elephant family members show signs of grief and may revisit the bones of the deceased for years, touching them with their trunks.

• Mud baths protect elephants from the sun and clean their skin of bugs and ticks.

• Most people believe that there are only two species of elephant in the word, but in fact there are three: African savannah, (Loxodonta africana), African forest, (Loxodonta cyclotis), Asian, (Elephas maximus)

• They Can Distinguish Languages

• They Can Hear Through Their Feet

• Elephants Are Excellent Swimmers

• They Can Suffer From PTSD

• They Use Dirt as Sunscreen

• The avoid Bees, even bordering on being afraid of them

• In addition to the visible physical differences from its Asian relative, the African elephant also has an extra pair of ribs (21 pairs instead of 20).

• The elephant’s gestation period is 22 months, which is longer than any other land animal on the planet.

• African elephants are capable of making a wide variety of vocal sounds, such as grunts, purrs, bellows, whistles, and the obvious trumpeting.

About The Author

Kyle Grobler is a passionate environmentalist and esteemed field guide from Potchefstroom. With an unparalleled love for nature, he boasts a vast collection of over 40,000 photos, illustrating his particular affinity for birds.

Known by many as the embodiment of a true bushman, Kyle has ventured through various South African game reserves and frequently explores the Vaal River's hidden treasures. As a new contributor to the Potch Gazette's environmental page, readers can anticipate immersive tales of Potchefstroom's natural wonders through Kyle's expert lens.

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