Elephants are among the largest animals in the world., heavy, majestic, with huge ears and imposing fangs, it is difficult for them to go unnoticed. Have you ever wondered where elephants live? Then you can't miss this article!
Learn a little more about these mammals, their distribution, that they feed and the main reasons that are leading them to extinction in Animals and Pets Online.Keep reading!
The giants of the earth
They are called elephants the mammals of the order Proboscidea and the family Elephantidae .One of their prehistoric ancestors was the gigantic mammoth.Its life expectancy is 70 years , although there are records of specimens that have reached almost 90 years.It is part of the list of the 10 largest animals in the world, being the animal Earth's largest land.
They are distinguished not only by their size, but also by large ears capable of perceiving sounds over long distances, and by the tube .With this no they only breathe, because it is their nose, but they also accumulate water, pick up objects and distinguish textures.
Where do African elephants live?
There are two species of African elephants: the African savanna elephant ( Loxodonta africana ) and the African elephant in the jungle ( Loxodonta cyclotis ).both live in Africa, are distributed in different areas:
- African savanna elephant : reaches 4 meters high and weighs 6 tons.It inhabits desert areas of the African continent , like the sub-Saharan region , where you prefer to stay in areas where you can find water and food easily.
- African jungle elephant : it is smaller size, it measures 3 meters and weighs about 5 tons.It lives in humid forest or jungle regions, in Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Guinea and countries in the central area of Africa.
There is a single species of Asian elephant ( Elephas maximus ) which in turn has three subspecies : the elephant of Sri Lanka ( Elephas maximus maximus ), the Sumatran elephant ( Elephas maximus sumatranus ) and the Indian elephant ( Elephas maximus indicus ).
This species measures 3 meters and weighs up to 5 tons.It is considered the most peaceful and sociable, besides being one of the sacred animals of India.The Asian elephant is distributed in several countries of the continent, as Sri Lanka and Sumatra , which name two of them, but also Nepal, India, Indochina, Borneo and Thailand .He prefers to live in humid tropical forest areas, where he finds it simple to camouflage with vegetation.
Where does the sea elephant live?
Although it is popularly known as an elephant, the truth is that this marine species has no relationship with terrestrial mammals .The genus Mirounga includes two species : the northern sea elephant ( Mirounga angustirostris ) and the southern sea elephant ( Mirounga leonina ).
The first of them inhabits the cold areas of North America , especially the waters of Alaska and the surroundings of Mexico , while the southern elephant seal is distributed along the Patagonian coasts, Australia, the Falklands and Tierra del Fuego .
This species is called elephant its appearance, because it has a thick gray skin, weighs up to 1 ton and males have a troop short.Due to its dimensions, there are few predators of the sea elephant, although females and young specimens can become victims of sharks.Like other animals of salt water, they spend most of their lives in the sea, except when the time comes for reproduction, during which they prefer the coasts to mate and take care of their young.
What do elephants feed on?
Terrestrial elephants, both the African and Asian varieties, are herbivorous , so they feed on leaves, herbs, bark and stems.An adult elephant needs large amounts of daily food to survive, they are able to ingest up to 200 kilos of plants .
Equally important is water for land elephants, reason why which try to live in areas where they can access it easily, because they not only drink it, they also use it for swimming.They consume 200 liters of water daily.
On the other hand, elephant seals feed of fish, crustaceans and all kinds of animals, especially those that can hunt in the depths.
Why are elephants in danger of extinction?
Surely you are wondering, how can an animal as large as the elephant be in danger of extinction? The truth is that it is due to the direct action of the human being.
The main threat of elephants in illegal hunting .For several centuries, the ivory that forms the fangs of elephants is considered a material of great value to make objects of all kinds.Due to this, poachers are responsible for assassinating elephants without contemplation in order to obtain the gains that this entails.
In the same way, some people attend excursions where the only objective is to hunt the elephants for fun and sport, leaving aside the terrible damage that this means for a species of which there are less than 1 million copies left in the world.sanctuaries designed to protect these mammals, the lack of conscience is responsible for reducing their number.
To that is added the destruction of the habitat of the elephants, especially logging and burning for the purpose of planting or expanding cities, which or bligan the species to migrate to other areas, a process in which not all members of the pack survive, since food and water are scarce.
Want to know more about elephants?
If you want to read more articles similar to Where do elephants live? , we recommend that you enter our Curiosities section of the animal world.
Comments
Post a Comment