This is the largest and heaviest land animal in the world, surpassing even the Asian Elephant : it weighs between 6 and 9 tonnes, with an adult male weighing 12,274 kg as a record!
It has large ears that serve mainly to evacuate excess body heat, a bit like a "car radiator". The end of its trunk has two "fingers" with which it gently grasps objects. Unlike its Asian cousin, both the male and female have large tusks.
The elephant has four large molars with which it can chew and grind branches and other plants, which are its sole food. It can eat up to 250 kg per day. To drink, it uses its trunk as a tool : it sucks in a certain amount of water, folds its trunk in its mouth and squirts out the water.
The elephant calf is born after a gestation period of 24 months and stays close to its mother, in the middle of the family group.
The elephant can live up to 70 years. Although elephant cemeteries remain a myth, it has been found that elephants recognise the bones of a consort and gently touch them with the end of their trunk, as a final tribute.
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