The African elephant is classified as a member of the order Proboscidea and family Elephantidae.
It is the largest land mammal. It has a heavy, grey body, four legs and a short tail. Its head is large with two huge ears, two small eyes, a trunk and two teeth called tusks. These animals are herbivore.
The elephant's eyesight is not very good and it uses its big ears for ventilation and communication. It can weigh up to six tons. The trunk is used for breathing, smelling, drinking water, picking food, breaking branches and fighting.
Elephants are ready to mate at the age of 15 or 16. The mating pair will often separate from the herd for a few weeks. After 21 to 22 months, one calf is born.
The African elephants live in Africa, south of the Sahara desert, in tropical forests, savannah areas, deserts and river valleys. They are endangered, because poachers kill them for their ivory tusks.
In the prehistory, there were about 300 species of elephants, and now there are only two! We must do something to save them. We can put them in game parks with cameras around their necks. The law can also help by preventing poaching. We can ban the selling of ivory.
If we prevent the elephants from becoming extinct, we will save many other animals, too. That is how the nature works!
Dunja Ilić, VIII2, November 2008
