Cool African Elephants!

The world's largest land mammal is the African elephant. Africans are slightly greater in size than Asian elephants and have larger ears that actually look like the shape of the African continent as shown on a map. The ears of Asian elephants are rounder and smaller.

African Forest elephants - Author: Thomas Breuer - CC BY 2.5

How elephants keep cool

In the hot African climate it is often necessary to cool down. Elephants love water and use their trunks to suck up water and spray over their bodies. They then spray a dust over their skin which helps to protect against the sun.

The trunk of an elephant is very versatile with around 100,000 different muscles and has multiple uses. On the end of the trunk can be found to small limbs like fingers that help with grasping and holding. It is also used to smell, drink and breathe.

African elephants; male and female, also have tusks which they use for stripping bark from trees, and digging for food and water. They are also used by males as weapons when fighting.  Read more