Biological Data of Elephant

Life span: Late 30s to more than 50 in the wild and in zoos

Gestation: 20 to 22 months

Number of young at birth: 1

Age of maturity: 13 to 20 years

Size: Females average 8 feet (2.4 meters) tall at the shoulder; males average 10 to 10.5 feet (3 to 3.2 meters)

Size: African forest elephant averages 8 feet tall at the shoulder

Weight: African elephant females up to 8,000 pounds (3,600 kilograms); males up to 15,000 pounds (6,800 kilograms)

Weight: Asian elephant females average 6,000 pounds (2,720 kilograms); males average 11,000 pounds

Weight at birth: 110 to 264 pounds (50 to 120 kilograms)

Size at birth: 26 to 42 inches (66 to 107 centimeters) tall at the shoulder.

A unique nose :

An elephant's trunk is both an upper lip and a nose. There are 8 major muscles on each side of the trunk and 150,000 muscle fascicles (portions of muscles) for the entire trunk. There are no bones or cartilage in this unique appendage. An elephant's trunk is so strong it can push down trees and so agile that it can pick up a single piece of straw. Elephants also use their trunk like we use our hands: to grab, hold, pick up, reach, touch, pull, push, and throw. The trunk is still a nose, too, and has two nostrils at the end that suck air up the long nasal passages and into the lungs. Elephants also use their trunks to drink, but the water doesn’t go all the way up the nose like a straw; instead, the elephant sucks water only part way up the trunk, curls it toward its mouth, tilts its head up, and lets the water from the trunk pour in.