The Differences Between African and Asian Elephants

Asian and African elephants are sometimes hard to differentiate between. Today I am going to tell you about some physical features that are essential to distinguish between the two.

Firstly, their ears are different. When stretched out, the ears of an African elephant look like the continent of Africa. Whereas Asian elephants ears are smaller and droop down more. The African elephant uses its large ears to protect itself from the strong sun in Africa.

Another thing that is different is their tusks. In Asian elephants, only the males develop tusks. Both sexes of African elephants grow tusks.

Despite having these physical differences, mentally and emotionally the two types are very similar. African and Asian elephants do not encounter each other in the wild and they are usually kept separate when they are in zoos.

There has only been one incident of cross-breeding between the two. In Chester Zoo in 1978 an Asian elephant was impregnated by an African elephant. Their calf had features that resembled both of them but unfortunately two weeks after his premature birth he died due to stomach complications. A study came back with inconclusive results as to whether or not the calf’s death was an effect of the cross-breading.  

http://knysnaelephantpark.co.za/elephant-management/elephant-information/

An Elephant Never Forgets

Elephants are the largest mammal on earth. They also experience a variety of emotions and express a number of behaviour patterns. Elephants have been observed grieving over dead herd members. They also have amazing memories.

When living in the wild, an elephant’s good memory is essential for its survival. The proof for the existence of elephant’s strong memories is when a herd meets an elephant they do not recognize they form a defensive structure to protect themselves. Scientists believe that this shows that elephants have amazing recall abilities for faces. Many elephants have shown that they recognise themselves in reflective surfaces, a trait which is rarely found in mammals.

As with any animal, their intelligence cannot be measured in a comparable from such as IQ’s. Most scientists agree that elephants are among the smartest animals on the planet both on emotional level and generally. Their survival instinct is very strong and they live in herds with a female leader as most male elephants leave the herd to reproduce.

The phrase “an elephant never forgets is of course an exaggeration but it is not actually too far from the truth.

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Are genetic modifications the latest way of preventing poaching?

In Mozambique’s National Park, it has been suggested that elephants have evolved to be born tuskless. The trait is much more common in females as male elephants need their tusks to fight for food and territory. The genetic mutation is a response to increased poaching in African countries. One third of baby females elephants are born without tusks in Mozambique. This percentage is low when compared to Addo Elephant National Park, where 98% of females are born tuskless.

 Elephant tusks are made from ivory which is considered to be very valuable by poachers. Without the tusks elephants are not targeted by poachers. Tusks grow to replace elephant’s baby teeth. Elephants need their tusks for a lot of things. Generally elephants use their tusks for digging holes, eating bark from trees and ploughing through dense forests and bushes. They can however, get by without them but with great difficulty.

 

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