The African Elephant

The African elephant is the largest terrestrial animal on earth, and there was once a time when they made their way across most of the African continent. Now times have changed and their numbers have drastically decreased.

Besides being the largest land animal on earth, African elephants also happen to have the biggest brain in the animal kingdom, and can reach a remarkable 70 years of age. They can be found across sub-Saharan Africa and in the rainforests of central and west Africa. In addition to roaming the land, elephants enjoy swimming, eating for up to 16 hours a day, and are generally quite playful. So basically they spend their days like I spend my Sundays, with the only difference being that, surprisingly, elephants don't sleep much at all. African elephants live in tight social units led by one matriarch being an older, let's say, wiser female.

Researchers followed a herd of elephants in Africa for 38 years, hoping to uncover all their different personality traits and their work was published in the Journal of Comparative Psychology. During this time they discovered that elephants in a herd all have clear-cut personalities and it was their differences that kept the group connected. The ability to sustain friendships and influence others proved to be very important in a herd. Possibly one of the most interesting facts they presented after years of research, is that unlike other animals, elephants used very different criteria when selecting their leader. Instead of looking for a dominant and aggressive member to be the matriarch, elephants tend to pick a member of the herd based on intelligence and problem solving.

It's not unusual to presume that elephants are naturally grumpy due to their lugubrious eyes, grey skin, and leisurely gait, but this could not be further from the truth. In fact, elephants that are aggressive and pushy are more likely to be rejected by their herd. I guess elephants don't like bullies either.

Now, although the African elephant can be seen as a gentle giant, that doesn't mean they don't have the ability to inflict harm when necessary. Their tusks are made of ivory and are actually incisors that males will use to battle one another. Also an elephant's trunk, which is actually a nose, has over 100,000 different muscles. Elephants can use their trunk to kill a lion or pick up tiny objects, depending on the graveness of the situation of course.

The African elephant may have a slow gait, but they definitely leave a long-lasting imprint.