Animalz Elephant Page

Of the large number of different types of proboscideans which at one time almost dominated the earth, only two remain: the African elephant, Loxodonta africana, inhabiting Africa south of the Sahara, and the Asiatic elephant, Elephas maximus, which is found from India and Ceylon through Burma, Thailand and Malaysia. It also occurs in Borneo, but there is uncertainty whether it has always lived there or whether it was introduced by man.

Although the two living species have much in common, they differ substantially, in temperment as well as physique. The Asiatic elephant is the smaller of the two, adult males standing only about 8-10 feet (2.4-3 metres) at the shoulder, compared with the African elephant's height of 10-11 feet (3-3.3 metres) and weight of up to six tons. The females of both species are smaller than the males; the maximum weight of the African female is 4 tons.

One conspicuous physical difference is in the size of the ears, those of the African elephant being much larger, both in actual dimensions and also relative to the animal's overall size. The forehead of the African species is flattened, that of the Asiatic noticeably protrusive; the African elephant's back is hollow, the Asiatic's curves upwards. The skin of the Asiatic elephant is smooth and covered with white or pink depigmentation spots like large freckles which become increasingly numerous with age; the African elephant's skin is far coarser and lacks the 'blotchy' appearance so characteristic of the Asiatic. The trunks of the two species also differ: whereas the African elephant has two finger-like projections on the tip of its trunk, the Asiatic has only one projection.

Tusk differences are very marked: not only are those of the Asiatic species much smaller, Asiatic females are commonly tuskless (or, more acurately, the tusks are so small that they do not protrude beyond the lips), as indeed are a great many bulls; an estimated 90 percent of the Ceylonese elephants are said to be without tusks. The African elephant, on the other hand, almost invariably possesses tusks in both sexes. Tusklessness in the Asiatic elephant may result from persistant killing of tuskers for their ivory: as tusklessness is believed to be a hereditary factor, continual slaughter of tuskers has resulted in the tuskless strain becoming predominant.

Apart from these physical characteristics, temperaments also differ widely. The Asiatic elephant has been domesticated for centuries, but attempts at schooling the African species have had only limited success. Although normally of a more placid disposition, the adult male Asiatic elephant has periodical bouts of 'musth', when its temporal glands-situated between the eye and the ear-become enlarged and exude an oily substance. When in 'musth' an elephant usually becomes bad-tempered to the point of being dangerous, though not all elephants become wildly excitable when in 'musth':some react in exactly the opposite manner, becoming dull and lethargic. Strange to say, although 'musth' has been a well-known condition since Asiatic elephants were first domesticated, its precise significance remains something of a mystery.

Despite its prodigious size, one of the elephant's remarkable characteristics is the ability to move almost noiselessly, the pads on the soles of its feet seeming to cushion the sound.

The thickness of the elephant's hide is in keeping with its size but, although thick-skinned, the elephant's body is only sparsely covered with hair. The animal counters this by frequent immersion in water, rounding off its ablutions with a coating of mud applied with its trunk, followed by a good dusting. This not only helps to control skin parasites and to clean and cool the body, it also alleviates the persistent attacks of hordes of flies and other biting insects.

Water is a vital factor in the life of the elephant. Not only must it drink at comparatively frequent intervals (30 gallons, 136 litres, or more is the normal daily intake), it must also immerse itself. When water is scarce elephants may have to be content with a wallow or shower, but whenever possible they prefer to indulge in a full-scale bath.

Elephant ears are equipped with an intricate network of blood vessels running close to the surface, which have an important function in regulating the animal's body temperature. Richly supplied with great blood vessels, it possesses shunts between the arterial and venous systems that allow the blood to flow through at tremendous speed while being cooled by the flapping motion so characteristic of peaceful elephants. The elephant's teeth are of unusual interest. Apart from its tusks, which are greatly enlarged upper incisors, the elephant only possesses cheek teeth. Each quadrant of its jaw has only a single cheek tooth., but what is lacking in numbers is made up in size, for each tooth is about 1 foot (300 millimeters) long. These gigantic teeth are used for grinding the vegetation on which the animal lives. The heavy use to which the teeth are put gradually hones them down and, as each tooth becomes worn, it is replaced by another pushing in from behind, up to a maximum of six for each quadrant. The life span of an elephant is as long as its teeth, for after its quota of teeth has been exhausted the animal is no longer able to chew its food, and must therefore die. Knowledge of the average life expectancy of their teeth has enabled the age of elephants to be estimated fairly accurately.

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