Unison
With a weight of 6 tons and a height that can reach 3.3 m to the shoulder, the elephant is the largest land animal in the world. Tusks of 90 kg have been recorded, but tusks of older bulls generally weigh 50 to 60 kg. Elephants can live as long as 70 years. With as many as 50 000 muscles, the elephant’s trunk is very sensitive. It is essentially a modified nose, able to detect water underground. Using the finger-like appendages at the tip of the trunk, elephants can pick the smallest flowers and twigs, pick a thorn from their feet and pull out strong reeds or grass. There is a common misunderstanding that the joints between the elephant’s feet and body are its knees. They are, in fact, its wrists. Elephants’ foot bones and hand bones are one and the same and have evolved to suit this four-legged mammal. An elephant’s tusks are actually its upper incisors, growing continuously until the elephant dies at about 60 years of age. They use their tusks for obtaining food, self-defence, and males use it for fighting. An elephant’s skin is about 3 cm thick, although it is rather sensitive. Elephants eat great quantities, and in a day can consume up to 272 kg (600 pounds) of tender shoots, grass and tree bark, drinking up to 200 litres of water in a single session. One elephant deposits about 150 kg (330 pounds) of dung per day, and drops a dollop every 15 minutes.
Info source: http://southafrica.co.za/elephant.html
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The photo was taken during September 2017 at Lake Panic Bird Hide, Kruger National Park Mpumalanga, South Africa.
