4 Asian Elephant Facts for Kids
The Asian elephant is a pretty intimidating animal due to its large size. In fact, the elephant is so big that it is actually known as the largest land animal in the world and the Asian elephant is only slightly smaller than African elephants. The Asian elephant has many unique characteristics that set it apart from other types of elephants.
1. Asian Elephant Ears
One of the features that is often used to identify the Asian elephant is their ears. Asian elephants have smaller and more rounded ears when compared to the ears of African elephants. The ears of the Asian elephant function to radiate heat and help cool down the large body of the elephant. However, the ears of the Asian elephant are often not enough to help keep it sufficiently cool. In addition to their ears, this type of elephant also uses their trunk to suck water and spray it over their bodies. Elephants are incredibly fond of water and this helps to keep them cool.
2. What is an Asian Elephant Trunk?
The trunk on an Asian elephant is actually a long nose that has a variety of different functions. Not only is the truck used for smelling, but it also helps with breathing, trumpeting, drinking and grabbing. The trunk of an Asian elephant is so large and powerful that it has more than 100,000 different muscles that reside in it. Asian elephants are also different than African elephants in the way that they have a finger-like feature on the end of their trunk that allows them to grab smaller objects with ease. African elephants have two of these finger-like features instead of just one.
3. Value of Asian Elephant Trunks
Due to the value of ivory, many Asian elephants have been killed for their tusks. However, it is now illegal to trade tusks, but this does not mean it doesn’t still occur on the black market.
4. Sleep and Eating Habits of Asian Elephants
Asian elephants typically eat rots, fruit and bark. They eat so much every single day that most Asian elephants consume on average about 300 pounds in food daily. Since they have such a huge appetite and consume so much food every day, it is no surprise that this elephant does not sleep a lot. They often spend their time roaming far distances in search of food that is needed to sustain their body.
