African elephants have two finger-like tips on the end of their trunk which allows for extreme dexterity (Asian elephants only have one). The trunk is an amazing limb containing an estimated 100,000 muscles and tendons. The elephant’s tusks will continue to grow throughout its life making use of them for digging, foraging, and in the male’s case, fighting. Just as people can be either right-handed or left-handed, elephants are either right-tusked or left-tusked as they will favor using one over the other.
