Elephant Facts for Kids

A Picture of an Elephant
  • 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

  1. Elephants are the largest living land animal on our planet.
  2. Elephants are members of the Elephantidae family and subfamily.
  3. Elephants are easy to identify by their unique features. They have a long truck, tusks and large floppy ears.
  4. 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).
  5. The African Bush and African Forest elephants live in the Sub-Saharan in Africa.
  6. The Asian elephant lives in the South-Southeastern region of Asia.
  7. The African Bush elephant on average weighs between 3 and 6 tons.
  8. The African Forest elephant on average weighs between 2 and 4 tons.
  9. The Asian elephant on average weighs between 3 and 4.5 tons.
  10. Elephants are herbivores that eat foliage and fruit.
  11. Elephants spend betwen 12 and 18 hours a day eating food.
  12. Elephants can produce up to 300 pounds of poop each day.
  13. Scientists believe elephants are highly intelligent. They appear to show self-awareness and empathy.
  14. It takes a female elephant 22 months to give birth to a baby elephant.
  15. The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) has the Asian elephant species classified as endangered and both African elephant species classified as vulnerable.
  16. 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.
  17. Woolly Mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) are an extinct group of the Elephantidae family.

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.