* The elephant is one of the largest land animals in all parts of the world, and it is a member of the group of mammals (the same group that includes cats, dogs, monkeys and even humans).  The African elephant is the largest type of mammal that lives on land.  Elephants live in Asia and Africa, and they were widespread in these two continents until the twentieth century, when hunting accelerated by a giant percentage to trade their ivory tusks.  Although elephant populations in some areas are now stabilizing or growing,

 * However, it is considered an endangered species, due to its continuous hunting and targeting in many countries.  The elephant is distinguished by its large body, large ears, and its long and versatile trunk, which makes use of it to carry things or spray water during the shower or even as a horn to make loud noises.

 1- They are the Asian and African elephants, which differ from each other in several aspects.  The Asian elephant is considered to be smaller in size than the African type, and its ears are very small compared to the two giant ears of the African elephant. In addition, most Asian elephants lack the distinctive large tusks, as the tusks in them are only found in males, and not in all of them.  Only designated of them, and African elephants all have tusks, including males and females.  When the elephant has tusks, it usually tends to only use one of its tusks more than the other, and then the most used tusk is smaller in size, due to its consumption and the erosion of its limbs.

 * Biological characteristics The adult male African elephant weighs (it is larger than its Asian counterpart) about 7.5 tons, or 7,500 kg, and the largest elephant recorded in history has reached 10,890 kg, and its height is nearly four meters full at the shoulder.  Asian elephants live in forests of low trees and rain jungles, and are often scattered around rivers in dry seasons. As for those African, they prefer lowland or mountain forests, flood plains and savannah plains.

 * The elephant consumes large quantities of food, as it eats 75 to 150 kilograms of herbs, leaves, bark and fruits every day, which is equivalent to about 5% of the body weight of an adult elephant, so it can spend 15 hours of its day eating only.  Elephants with their large ears, which benefit from them as two fans to move the air and ventilate their body on hot days, and their skin is very thick, as its thickness in some parts of the body can reach 2.5 centimeters, and it is very loose, which makes it appear many wrinkles, except that in  Truth is beneficial to the elephant;  Because it helps maintain moisture for a longer period of time before it evaporates in dry seasons.

 * The elephant is famous for its strange-shaped trunk, which is a very long and devoid of bones, and has tremendous muscle strength that enables it to drop trees from the roots, and the elephant can use it to drink, but it does not draw water through its hose to its hollow, but rather uses it as a container to transport water from the pond  Or the river and then throwing it into his mouth.  As for the tusks of elephants, they also have their uses. They could be a means of defense against other animals, or digging the ground in search of food, or lifting some things.

 * At the beginning of the twentieth century, there were about 100 thousand Asian elephants and several million African elephants in the world, but as a result of overhunting these creatures in pursuit of their ivory tusks, and because of the destruction of their natural environment and human competition with them for their habitats, these numbers have now decreased to 35,000 Asian elephants  And 450,000 to 750,000 African elephants.  Elephants are considered very social animals. Female elephants always roam in family flocks with close ties.

 * These herds may consist of no more than 8 elephants and up to 100, depending on the species and region.  She leads the older female herd in it, and because elephants have a strong memory that may last for many years, the leader is usually able to help her herd to reach wet places that she remembers from the past in dry seasons, even if they are tens of kilometers away from their current location.

 * The baby elephant is called Daghl in Arabic.  Female elephants do not meet males except for almost mating, so the males fight together to obtain females, and these are battles in which the older males usually win for their strength and their enormous size, and the male will separate from the female immediately after mating.  The fuss (small) elephant carries a period of about two years, or 20 to 22 months, which is the largest period of pregnancy recorded in the animal kingdom.

 * The female elephant is very attached to her young, as she is very careful with them, and defends them if they are exposed to dangers, and the task of protecting the young is common to all members of the herd, and if the female does not have her own, then she usually cares for other elephants as if they are her.  The little one eats large amounts of food. He is able to drink about 35 liters of milk every day.  The shared responsibility to protect the prey did not come from a vacuum, but because the baby elephants - as some scientists believe,

 * Characterized by being weak to a great degree, and lacking the ability to perform many vital tasks.  The bond between the female elephant and her fawn is among the strongest bonds in nature, as it remains near her for many years, and if the baby elephant is a female, it is likely that it will not separate from her mother until the death of one of them, but the male fawn is less related to his mother, even though he stays near her  Throughout his life, except that when he reaches puberty -

 * It is usually about 12 years old - it becomes more troublesome for the female herd to bear, as he gains a high desire to fight and struggle with other elephants or try to mate with them, and his mother and the leader of the herd usually distance him from the rest of the elephants when this happens, as he continues at this pace until  Expelled from the herd.  Male elephants live alone after leaving their herd, and females only meet to mate.