The largest land mammal on Earth, this elephant is the real king of the African wilderness. When provoked, this colossal creature attacks enemies-even lions-and is known to kill predators that try to harm its young. Though it has a huge appetite, the African elephant intelligently manages its food supplies to make sure that there will always be enough for all members of its herd to eat-which is a lot. A typical herd devours more than 37 tons of vegetation per day!
Useful Baggage: This elephant's trunk has two "lips" on the end (surrounding a pair of sensitive nostrils) that are flexible enough to grip objects. It flexes its trunk to grab leaves, even those up to a dozen feet above its head!
Fight to Survive: This beast's tusks, which can be up to 12 feet long, are mainly used to scrape bark from trees and dig up bushes to eat. Males use them as weapons in fights with rivals, risking injury and even death to win rights to breed with females.
Eat Smart[]
Adult elephants stand in front of their young when preators [sic] are near.
One African elephant can eat as much as 330 pounds of food in a day, but it doesn't feed in just one place. Apparently this creature knows if it devours everything in its feeding grounds, the plants won't grow back. The elephant helps keep an area rich with food by shaking trees to make their seeds fall. When food becomes scarce, and the elephant can no longer reach the upper leaves of a tree, it uses its massive weight and strength to knock the tree over so it can finish off its leaves.
Take No Prisoners: Because of its size, an adult elephant has nothing to fear from predators-but young ones are another story. Lions sometimes try to separate adults from their young, but the adults fight back and will trample enemies that get in their way.
Secret Handshake: African elephants live in small herds, but sometimes group together in large clans, consisting of all related females. When herds merge into clans, the females wrap their trunks together to make sure they recognize the members by scent or touch.
It Takes a Village[]
- When a baby elephant is born, many members of the all-female group rush over to tend to the calf and give it any attention it needs.
- The mother uses her trunk to nudge her newborn, encouraging the baby to get up on its feet.
- The mother and the other females take turns caring for the youngster, including using their trunks to keep it upright when it stumbles on uneven ground.
Trivia[]
- The species says Loxodanta africana, which means this is technically an African bush elephant.
- The African elephant is the only modern pachyderm featured in the series.
- Additionally, it is the only pachyderm to not have a Trading Card.
- The caption for the picture on the back misspelled 'predators' as 'preators'.
- The African elephant is mentioned on several other cards:
- It is mentioned on the cards of some of its extinct relatives, the Platybelodon and Deinotherium.
- The Spotted Hyena knowledge card mentions the hyena can crunch through their bones.
- The elephant, being the namesake of the Elephant Seal, is mentioned on the seal's knowledge card. This is also the case for the Long-Nosed Elephant Fish and the Elephant Beetle.
- On the topic of elephant namesakes, the African elephant is also referenced on the Dumbo Octopus knowledge card because of the Disney movie the octopus gets it's name from.
- It's mentioned as a distant relative of the Dugong in the marine mammal's Did You Know? section.
- It is mentioned on the Cyclops knowledge card as a possible origin.
- Their believed immunity to the venom of a Manticore is mentioned in the mythical beast's Did You Know? section.
- They're used as a size reference for the African cryptid, Mokele-Mbembe, in its Creature Features section.
- The "It Takes a Village" illustrations are also used in the Wildlife Explorer series; here, titled "Safe and Sound", there is a bonus image at the end of the mother sheltering her baby from the sun.
- The African elephant is featured in It's All Relative! on Monster Mania 98.
- The African Elephant is the largest living land mammal.
- The African Elephant is the only Elephantidae in Weird n' Wild Creatures that doesn't have a trading card.