- Name: Elephant
- Family: Elephantidae
- Lifespan: Between 60 and 70 years
- Diet: Foliage (herbivorous)
- Range: Africa and Asia
- Length: Up to 24 feet (African)
- Weight: Up to 7 tons (African)
17 Elephant Facts for Kids
- Elephants are the largest living land animal on our planet.
- Elephants are members of the Elephantidae family and subfamily.
- Elephants are easy to identify by their unique features. They have a long truck, tusks and large floppy ears.
- There are three living species of elephants and they are the African Bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), the African Forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus).
- The African Bush and African Forest elephants live in the Sub-Saharan in Africa.
- The Asian elephant lives in the South-Southeastern region of Asia.
- The African Bush elephant on average weighs between 3 and 6 tons.
- The African Forest elephant on average weighs between 2 and 4 tons.
- The Asian elephant on average weighs between 3 and 4.5 tons.
- Elephants are herbivores that eat foliage and fruit.
- Elephants spend betwen 12 and 18 hours a day eating food.
- Elephants can produce up to 300 pounds of poop each day.
- Scientists believe elephants are highly intelligent. They appear to show self-awareness and empathy.
- It takes a female elephant 22 months to give birth to a baby elephant.
- The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) has the Asian elephant species classified as endangered and both African elephant species classified as vulnerable.
- The biggest risk to both African and Asian elephants is poachers who illegally hunt them for their ivory, followed by the human destruction of their natural habitat.
- Woolly Mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) are an extinct group of the Elephantidae family.
Elephant Pictures
A photo of a large African elephant.Credit: Elephant World
A photo of a large herd of elephants.Credit: Elephant World
A photo of a large Asian elephant.Credit: Elephant World
Additional Resources on Elephants
- Elephants – WWF – Discover more amazing facts about elephants on the WWF website.
- Elephant – Wikipedia – Explore more about elephants on the Wikipedia website.
- Elephant Pictures – View lots of beautiful pictures of elephants around the world on the Elephant World website.