There are two kinds of African elephant. The African bush elephant and the smaller African forest elephant.

Elephants live in groups called herds and are very social.  Females live together with young elephants. Adult males live alone or they may live in a group of their own. 

Elephants are very intelligent and are usually very gentle if you leave them alone.  But they will attack if they feel afraid and kill around 500 people every year.

Elephants are not endangered but numbers are still low. There are only about 415,000 elephants in Africa. They are hunted for their tusks which are used for ornaments and jewelry. 

herds - groups

tusks - long teeth

African Elephants are the world's largest land mammal. They can grow to be up to 13 feet / 4 metres tall and weigh up to 15,000 pounds / 6800 kg. Since they are so heavy, they cannot jump!

Elephants have large fan-shaped ears to keep them cool. The most unique part of an elephant is its trunk! Their trunk is both a nose and an upper lip. It can grow up to 7 feet / 2 metres long! It is used for smelling but it is also used for drinking. The elephant sucks water into the trunk and then blows it into its mouth. Elephants like to use their trunks to blow water or dust on themselves to stay cool. They also use trunks like arms and hands. They can pick pull and lift with their trunks. They can also pick things up - even a single leaf!

Both male and female elephants have tusks. Tusks are really just teeth. They are used to protect themselves, to get food and for picking things up.

Elephants live to about 60 years of age.

African elephants are herbivores - they only eat plant matter. 

They eat all parts of a plant: leaves, grass, fruit, bark, twigs and roots.

Because they are so large, they need a lot of food. They can eat up to 300 pounds / 136 kg of food a day! That means they spend a lot of time eating - up to 18 hours each day.

An African elephant baby is called a calf (plural: calves) They are about 3 feet / 1 metre tall when they are born. They weigh about 200 pounds / 91 kg.  They can walk as soon as they are born but can't see very well.

Elephant mothers are very protective.  They keep their babies very close to them. But they have help! Female elephants help each other take care of their babies.

protective - wants to take care of, save from danger