trunk Archives - Page 11 of 14

Prickly

Elephant trunks have multiple functions, including breathing, olfaction, touching, grasping, and sound production. The trunk’s ability to make powerful twisting and coiling movements allows it to collect food, wrestle with other elephants, and lift up to 350 kg. It can be used for delicate tasks, such as wiping an eye and checking an orifice and is capable of cracking a peanut shell without breaking the seed. With its trunk, an elephant can reach items at heights of up to 7 m and dig for water under mud or sand. Individuals may show a lateral preference when grasping with their trunks: some prefer to twist them to the left, others to the right. Elephants can suck up water both to drink and to spray on their bodies. They will also spray dust or grass on themselves. When underwater, the elephant uses its trunk as a snorkel.

3 October 2018Picture of the day, Wildlife

Creased

An elephant’s skin is generally very tough, at 2.5 cm (1 in) thick on the back and parts of the head. The skin around the mouth and inside the ear is considerably thinner. Elephants typically have grey skin, but African elephants look brown or reddish after wallowing in coloured mud. An elephant uses mud as a sunscreen, protecting its skin from ultraviolet light. Although tough, an elephant’s skin is very sensitive. Without regular mud baths to protect it from burning, insect bites and moisture loss, an elephant’s skin suffers serious damage. After bathing, the elephant will usually use its trunk to blow dust onto its body and this dries into a protective crust.

13 September 2018Picture of the day, Wildlife

Quench

Elephants can also drink up to 50 gallons of water a day about as much as a standard bathtub holds. The elephant’s ability to locate underground water and dig pools helps provide many other species with water during droughts. Their unique trunk acts as part nose to assist in breathing and detecting odours, and part hand to assist with manipulating objects, social interactions, eating, dust bathing, drawing-up water and releasing it into the mouth for drinking.

5 July 2018Picture of the day, Wildlife