07 Elephants

Elephants are the largest land mammals. The three main types are Indian, savannah, and forest elephants. The Indian elephant has relatively small ears and is much smaller than the other two species. Savannah and forest elephants live in Africa. All elephants are endangered due to hunting and habitat loss.

Elephants live in herds guided by the oldest female member. Most male elephants leave the herd to form bachelor herds when they are around 12 years old. These enormous creatures only sleep for about 2-3 hours per day. They spend the rest of the time searching for food and eating. Elephants are vegetarians and their favourite food is acacia leaves. If ants are found on a tree, elephants will move away, because ants can injure an elephant's trunk. The trunk is a large, muscular fusion of the nose and upper lip.

Although elephants have very thick skin, it can burn very easily if it is not covered with mud, to protect it from the Sun. They are very social animals and communicate by producing vibrations in the ground with their feet. These sounds are so quiet that humans cannot hear them. Similar to humans, elephants perform a kind of burial ceremony when one of their group members dies.

Due to their enormous size, elephants need to eat about 150 kilograms of food per day. And with all that eating, their teeth wear down pretty fast. They are replaced 6 or 7 times during the average lifetime of an elephant. Elephants live 60-70 years in the wild and more than 80 years in captivity.

Word List

savannah : grassland

herds : large groups

bachelor : a male without a mate

You Practice

I. By the numbers—What do these numbers mean in the reading?

1) 12 years______________________________________________

2) 2-3 hours_____________________________________________

3) 150 kilograms_________________________________________

4) 6 or 7 times___________________________________________

5) 60 to 70 years_________________________________________

II.Word power—Use these words from the reading in sentences of your own.

1) burial________________________________________________

2) savannah_____________________________________________

3) enormous _____________________________________________

4) endangered ____________________________________________

5) bachelor ______________________________________________

III. True / False / Not Given—Write T if the sentence is true, F if the sentence is not true, or NG if there is no information about the sentence.

____ 1) Elephants are carnivores.

____ 2) All elephants live in Africa.

____ 3) Elephants and ants have a symbiotic relationship.

____ 4) Elephant communication can be seen and heard by people.

____ 5) Elephants are not related to any other African animals.