Wildlife Safaris: A Legend of African Elephants

The elephant is one of the most interesting andelephants, besides their massive size, is their trunk.
beautiful creatures on earth. It is the largest animalThe trunk is nothing more than an elongation of their
on land with some bulls growing up to about thirteennose and upper lip. Besides being used for breathing
feet tall. They can weigh up to seven tones for theand smelling it is also used as an appendage, much
bulls- about the weight of a truck.like an arm or hand. Elephants are capable of pulling
Elephants are unique in that they smell, eat, and washup to 11.5 liters (3 gallons) of water into the trunk to
themselves using their long flexible trunks. In additionbe sprayed into the mouth for drinking or onto the
they have elongated teeth made of ivory that aidback for bathing. They use their two finger-like
them in getting food. They do use them also to liftprojections that are at the tip to manipulate small
heavy objects including pushing down trees. Theseobjects and to pluck grasses.
teeth are called tusks.most obvious characteristic of