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Essay on Elephant

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Last updated date: 22nd Mar 2024
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Writing an Essay on Elephant

Elephants are animals that belong to the Elephantidae family (which includes mammoths) and can be found all over the world. Elephants are one of the world's largest land animals, with populations spanning Asia and Africa's forests and deserts. Elephants are known to be highly intelligent and social animals, similar to primates and humans, and are regarded as the most lovable creatures and valued by various cultures around the world.


Long Elephant Essay in English

Animals of different forms can be found all over the world. Some are quite large, while others are quite small. The elephant is the world's largest and most powerful mammal.

It has thick legs, massive sides and back, large hanging ears, a short tail, small eyes, long white tusks, and, most notably, a long nose known as the trunk. Elephants have the biggest brain of any terrestrial animal, measuring four times the size of a human brain.


On the head and back, an elephant's skin can be as thick as 2.5-4 cm. The skin is greyish black in colour. On the forehead, top section of the trunk, and ears, there is depigmentation. The skin is silky and supple while being dry due to the lack of sweat glands. To compensate for evaporative heat loss, the heavily wrinkled skin absorbs water and helps keep surface moisture. This is especially important during droughts.


Elephants have 1.5-2 inch length and 1-inch broad eyes. Because of the location of the eyeball, the existence of the trunk and ear, as well as the short neck, the field of vision is limited to just 30-50 metres. When an elephant detects danger, it alternates its body movements from side to side to see behind it rather than travelling straight forward. However, this is offset by exceptionally strong olfactory and hearing abilities.


Elephants have six sets of teeth during their lives. At any one time, there are four teeth in the mouth, two in the lower jaw and two in the upper jaw. If two teeth in the same alveolar pocket are visible at the same time, the front one is the worn-out old tooth and the posterior one is the new tooth. Elephants are the only mammals to migrate their teeth in this way; in other species, the milk teeth are shed as the permanent teeth sprout.


The elephant's trunk is a unique characteristic that it employs in a variety of ways. The trunk is the upper lip that has been changed. It may be used to drink, dress food, and even as a snorkel. The food is also grasped by the trunk, which transports it to the mouth for mastication. Because the tongue cannot be protruded, the food is placed on the tongue by the dextrous trunk. In elephants, the trunk also serves as an olfactory organ, which is a highly evolved mode of communication. By touching the object and inserting the tip into the mouth, it may be used to test different odours. Threatening gestures and play fighting are also done with the trunk. It spreads its trunk forth during pretend charges, but it keeps its trunk tucked in during real charges. An elephant foal can lift roughly 4.5 per cent of its weight with its trunk, whereas an adult elephant can lift about 270 kg. It draws water up by it and can squirt it all over its body like a shower bath, and it collects leaves from trees and eats them. Elephants have a clumsy and bulky appearance.


Elephants can be found in India and Africa. Most zoologists identify two elephant species: the Asian elephant and the African elephant, both of which live on different continents and have distinct characteristics. According to National Geographic, African elephants can be found in Sub-Saharan Africa, Central and West African rainforests, and Mali's Sahel desert. Scrub forests and rainforests are home to Asian elephants in Nepal, India, and Southeast Asia.


The African elephant is heavier, tougher, and has longer tusks and larger ears than the Indian elephant. The two are thought to be separate species.


They live in herds in the jungles of both countries, are shy, and avoid people. The elephant is a highly intelligent species of animal, and its strength and intellect make it a valuable companion of humans. It can be taught to serve in a variety of capacities. The trained elephant will kneel, use its tusks to raise a heavy log of wood, bring it to the desired spot, and position it precisely in place.


African elephants, both male and female, are known to have large tusks and two "fingers" at the end of their trunks to assist them in picking up objects from the ground or trees. At the end of their trucks, Asian elephants just have a single "finger." Only male Asian elephants have big tusks, and only a few females and males have smaller tusks that don't often develop outside the mouth.


Elephants are also used to hunt tigers. On the back of the elephant, the hunter is in the ‘howdah,' which is pushed and led by the driver, ‘Mahawat.'


Elephants were used in wars in the past, and armies had their regiments of trained warrior elephants. They can still be seen in state processions. A large number of elephants are captured alive to be tamed and trained.


According to a Scientific American article, elephants are among the most intelligent animals on the planet, and they have been found to have varying degrees of problem-solving abilities, as well as the capacity to display and experience empathy, mourning, and self-awareness.


However, capturing elephants alive is challenging and dangerous work because, while the elephant is a shy, wild animal but when left alone when threatened, it can be a dangerous opponent.


The Asian elephant is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). Although the exact population of Asian elephants is unknown, experts believe that the population is declining.


According to the IUCN, the African elephant is considered endangered, and its population is growing. According to the African wildlife Foundation (AWF), there are about 415,000 wild African elephants.


Elephants are extremely beneficial to men and their employment. Elephants are hunted in a few areas mostly for their tusks, which are made of ivory and are extremely valuable. The hunting of elephants is forbidden by statute. To maintain a balanced world, we must protect them.


Short Essay on Elephant

Elephants are the world's biggest and most magnificent land animals. They seem to be both gigantic and modest. Elephants are my favourite animal because they are both grounded and overly sweet. No other animal comes close to resembling them with their snake-like long noses or trunks, big, floppy ears, and thick trunk-like legs.


Tusks are large, deep-rooted teeth-like structures that evolved to help elephants dig, raise, gather food, and defend themselves while also protecting their trunks. Elephants can have either right or left-tusked tusks, similar to how humans can have either left or right-handed tusks.


Elephant herds have a matriarchal system, with the eldest female in charge. Herds are made up of 6 to 20 members, depending on the food source, and consist mainly of female family members and young calves. Herds also break into smaller groups that remain in the same region when the family becomes too large.


They eat soft green grass, grains, bread, bananas, sugar cane, flowers, and the stem of the banana tree, among other things, since they are herbivores.


An adult elephant spends nearly sixteen to eighteen hours a day, or nearly 70% to 80% of their waking hours, feeding. And they consume between 90 and 272 kg of food per day.


Depending on their size, they need approximately 60 to 100 litres of water per day. An adult male, on the other hand, can drink up to 200 litres of water per day.


The African female elephant has a gestation period of 22 months, while the Asian elephant has a gestation period of 18 to 22 months, depending on their lifestyle.


Elephants often pay careful attention to the protection and well-being of all members of their herd and will do everything they can to protect and care for vulnerable or wounded members.

FAQs on Essay on Elephant

1. What is the Normal Lifespan of an Elephant?

Wild elephants have a longer lifespan than their zoo counterparts. In the wild, Asian elephants can live up to 60 years while African elephants can live up to 70 years. Elephants in zoos have the lowest lifespans. Pachyderms in European zoos die far sooner than those in protected wildlife reserves in Africa and Asia, according to six-year research. Captivity, according to researchers, has a major negative impact on elephants' mental health, to the point that stress can lead to early death.

2. How Much Does an Elephant Eat?

It is said that an elephant eats 100kg of food per day. They can drink up to 100 litres of water on average. This is commensurate with the body mass of an elephant, which, for an adult Asian male is 4000 Kg and for an African male is 6000 Kg. Elephants have been known to eat for up to 16 hours a day. In the wild, a single animal may devour up to 600 pounds of food in a single day, however, the average is 250–300 pounds. A normal adult elephant in a zoo may consume 4-5 bales of hay and 10–18 pounds (4.5–8 kg) of grain per day. This equates to more than 29,000 kg of hay and 2700 kg of feed for each animal per year. The average daily water usage per animal is 25–50 gallons (100–200 litres). Elephants only digest their food at a rate of less than 50%. Because of the large amount of food consumed and the inefficiency of the digestive system, there is a lot of manure - a lot of manure. An elephant defecates 12 to 15 times each day, resulting in a daily volume of 220 to 250 pounds.

3. How Many Bones are there in an Elephant's Trunk?

Even though the trunk is the most versatile part of an elephant’s body used for smelling, breathing, grasping, lifting, touching, and making sounds, it is to be noted that there are no bones in it. It consists of 40,000 plus muscles! The elephant's skeleton accounts for around 16.5 per cent of its entire body weight. There are 282 bones in an adult female Asian elephant. The cranium, which is dimensionally huge and weighs 52 kilograms on average, is not as hefty as it appears due to the vast number of sinuses present. It consists of 51 bones, each of which is aerated by sinuses. The vertebral column is made up of 61 bones, with the longest rib reaching a length of 96.5 cm.


The elephant's cervical bone is relatively short. This is why elephants can't bend their necks and gaze backwards, making them uncomfortable when something approaches from behind. They can stand for lengthy periods and sustain their massive body weight because of their nearly vertical limbs. The bones are aligned in a straight line, like a pillar, giving strong support for the massive body. Elephants cannot jump due to the vertical position of their feet, although they may hop and leap. On particularly small sections of land, they can also move forward and backwards. The thigh bone is the body's biggest bone. The femur of an adult animal is 114.3 cm long (thigh bone).

4. Why are Elephants Endangered?

Poachers kill about 20,000 elephants every single year for their tusks, which are then traded illegally in the international market to eventually end up as ivory trinkets. This trade is mostly driven by the demand for ivory in parts of Asia. The biggest threat to Asian and African elephants is the same for all species throughout the world: habitat loss and fragmentation. However, many elephants suffer additional threats, including direct and indirect human conflict. Humans are encroaching on elephants in both Africa and Asia, but the impact on Asian elephants is highly problematic. Agriculture, logging, highways, and construction for residential or commercial usage are all reducing and fragmenting their habitats. Elephants are migratory creatures that require wide, contiguous areas to survive, and this tendency deprives them of essential resources such as food and water. By separating communities from one another, it can also decrease genetic diversity. Last century, many elephant populations declined as a result of excessive poaching, fueled mostly by a desire for their ivory tusks. While the International Convention on the Trading in Endangered Species (CITES) prohibited international ivory trade in 1989, authorized ivory markets have persisted in several nations, aided by a growing black market and well-armed poaching gangs. Elephants are threatened practically everywhere, but according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the majority of illegal ivory presently originates from African elephants, where poachers murder hundreds of elephants each year.

5. Are Elephants Intelligent Species?

Elephants are a highly intelligent species as they have been seen performing well in problem-solving abilities and protecting their herd from dangers. Conventional knowledge believes that elephants are among the most intellectual, socially expressive, and emotionally complex non-human creatures. This widely believed belief is founded on both mythology and decades of scientific inquiry. Elephant intelligence remarked on captive elephants' astonishing capacity to work with minimal training as well as their ability to operate as a team. He regarded elephants with the capacity to predict what would happen if they pushed and dragged big logs into a vehicle, for example, because of their exceptional balance and synchrony.

6. What are the Elephant Tusks?

Their teeth structures are made of ivory which is deeply rooted and has evolved to help elephants in cutting and protecting their trunk. Tusks are the lateral incisors of an animal that continue to develop throughout its life. They appear on the sides of the trunk's base. Nearly half of the tusk, starting at the base, is hollow, containing tusk pulp. It's formed of dentine and has a shiny white enamel finish on the outside. Tusks are utilised for digging, transporting burdens, debarking trees, fighting, and displaying behaviour. Female Asian elephants do not have tusks, but instead have tushes, which are smaller and tougher than the tusks. Male Asian elephants are also known as makhnas since they lack tusks. Almost all elephants have different tusk appearances. They grow 15-20 cm in length each year on average.

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