Elephant Facts for Kids
Elephants have always been my favorite animal. I don’t know if it’s their beautiful tusks, their large ears, or their loud stomps, but something about the animal has always fascinated me. Elephants are the largest land animals on Earth weighing upwards of 6 tons! African elephants are the largest species of elephants and can be found in, you guessed it, Africa. There are so many more species of elephants from the African Forest Elephant to the African Bush Elephant and even the Asian Elephant. Learn about all the different types of elephants and their characteristics with these elephant facts for kids.
You can download a FREE Elephant printable PDF activity packet at the bottom of the post too!
Elephant Species
1. There are two main types of elephant species – the African elephant and the Asian elephant. The African elephant can be found mostly in West Africa and Sahara regions although they are located across the entire continent of Africa. The Asian elephant is located in Southeast Asia and other parts of the continent.
2. The African elephant is the largest elephant species. It is much larger than the Asian elephant with adult males weighing over 13,000 pounds!
3. Both male and female African elephants have tusks, but did you know only male Asian elephants have tusks?
Elephant Facts for Kids – Elephant Sizes
4. If you couldn’t have guessed it by now, elephants are the largest land mammal. The largest adult elephant ever recorded was an African elephant weighing in at 24,000 pounds. That’s over 12 tons! Could you imagine seeing an animal this large?
5. A baby elephant, called an elephant calf, weighs about 250 pounds at birth. That’s one big baby!
Elephant Tusks
6. Many elephants, with the exception of female Asian elephants, have ivory tusks. These tusks are actually modified teeth that the elephants use for digging, stripping tree bark, and even as weapons!
7. How long is your biggest tooth? Elephant teeth or tusk can grow up to 3 meters long! That’s longer than all your teeth combined!
Elephant Facts for Kids – Diet and Eating
8. Believe it or not, elephants are actually herbivores meaning they only eat plants. An elephant’s diet consists of grass, leaves, bark, and fruit.
9. Elephants can eat over 300 pounds of food a day! Do you think you could do that?
10. Elephants can also drink up to 50 liters or 13 gallons of water each day! They typically use their trunk to drink (or give themselves a shower).
Elephant Trunks
11. The elephant’s trunk is its most distinctive feature. The large trunk is used for breathing, drinking, eating, and picking up things. Elephants also use their trunks as snorkels when swimming. How cool is that?
12. An elephant’s trunk can grow to be about 2 meters long from the start to the end of their trunks! Some elephant’s have longer tusks than trunks but it doesn’t appear that way because about one-third of an elephant’s tusk is embedded below the skin. Did you know that?
Elephant Facts for Kids – Appearance
13. Not only are elephants the largest living land mammals on earth, but they also have the largest ears! The larger ears help keep the elephants cool, especially in the desert region and other hot climates.
14. Elephant skin is very dry, but it wasn’t always like that. The skin becomes dry and wrinkled over time since the elephants have no sweat glands to keep the surface of their skin moist. The thick and wrinkled skin also helps protect the elephants from thorns and insect bites.
Elephant Herds
15. In the wild, you will usually see elephants walking around with each other. That’s because elephants are very social animals who live in close-knit family groups.
16. A group of elephants is called a herd. The leader of a herd is usually the oldest female elephant.
17. Male elephants leave their family herds when they reach puberty and live solitary lives by themselves or with a group of other males.
Elephant Facts for Kids – All about Life!
18. Female elephants reach sexual maturity at around 10-12 years old, while male elephants reach maturity at around 15 years old.
19. Elephants are pregnant for almost two years! A typical pregnancy in adult females will last 22 months, which is the longest pregnancy of any mammal!
20. An elephant’s lifespan is around 60-70 years. They are just behind humans, who have an average life expectancy of 72.6 years.
More Interesting Elephant Facts for Kids
21. An elephant’s brain is the largest of any land animal. This makes them very intelligent animals, who use a variety of tools and strategies to survive. They are also known for having extremely good memories.
22. Despite their size, elephants can run at fast speeds of up to 40 km/h. That’s almost 25 miles per hour!
23. Elephants have poor eyesight but make up for it with their excellent sense of smell and hearing. They rely on their large ears and long trunks to warn them when predators are approaching.
24. African elephants are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), while Asian elephants are listed as endangered.
What Can You Do?
So, what can you do? Protect the habitats of elephants by not littering and by keeping harmful toxins out of the air. Together, we can work to improve the habitat of elephants and clean the air clean for not just the elephants, but for ourselves as well.
WANT MORE FUN FACTS FOR KIDS?
Check out these fun facts for kids here and browse all the other topics at the bottom of the post.
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