Elephant Books For Kids

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The elephant or pachyderm, is known as one of the largest living land mammals on earth. It is a descendent of the Mammoths or Mastodons which roamed the earth over 10,000 years ago during the Ice Age. Although elephants look very similar to one another, there are actually three different and unique species: the African Bush, African Forest, and Asian Elephant. Asian elephants tend to have a lot of hair on their bodies and have a curved spine, whereas African elephants are have large ears and tusks.
The elephant is recognized as having extremely thick skin, up to one inch in thickness and can weigh over eight tons! Most of the time (as some may be discoloured), elephants are noted for their grey skin which they cover with mud to keep cool under the blazing sun, use it to protect them from insects and use it to regulate their core body temperatures. This is why elephants are often found near mud pools, or in rivers as this provides them a safe spot under the sun. Elephants do not have any natural predators in the wild, although large cats such as lions, tigers and leopards may go after a smaller calf which can weigh up to 260 pounds when born, if they feel like they can secure the take down without getting trampled by the herd.
They can be distinguished by their large trunks that have a 'finger' like tool on the end which is used for grabbing things such as branches and mainly food. It is also used for drinking water and spraying water across their large frames which can grow to be around thirteen feet in height. The trunk is the elephant's nose and upper lip that has been joined over the course of evolution and can contain over 40,000 different muscles. They use their trunk to play with other elephants by wrapping their trunks around one another, or may use it to defend themselves in a fight against a predator.
Elephants are herbivores, meaning that they only eat grass, fruits, and leaves from trees or other plants. They use their large trunks to gather the food, place it in their mouth, and then chew it up as humans would. They will not go after any other food source, and will often push trample and push trees over in order to get at their desired food source.
When travelling across the land, female elephants will travel with their young in a herd. The leader of the herd is known as a Matriarch who is often the oldest and largest female elephant. They are easy to spot because the other elephants tend to gravitate towards them within the herd. However, males often live alone or travel with other males in a herd. Very rarely are they seen around a female herd unless it is for mating purposes. Elephants can live to be quite old, often living to be around 70 years of age or older.
The biggest threat to elephants are poachers who look to kill off elephants in order to harvest their tusks. This has become a massive problem for elephant’s species which are now a protected species throughout the world due to their dwindling numbers.