The elephant is considered to be the largest animal living on land. Its size excites the imagination, since a person is just a short man compared to him. However, even among these animals there are those who are clearly superior to their counterparts in size. So let's go on a little educational walk and find out: how much does the largest elephant in the world weigh? Where does he live? And what curious secrets does he hide?
Descendants of ancient giants
The history of the origin of elephants goes back to those distant times, when a great cold snap slowly approached the earth. According to the latest research, the first elephant-like creatures were born about 1.6 million years ago. They were a random genetic error, a mutation that forever separated the mastodons into two separate species.
At the same time, over the years, elephants also succumbed to evolutionary changes. They formed three separate subspecies. Namely, mammoths, Indianand African elephants. The first, unfortunately, could not survive to this day. But the other two still walk on the lands familiar to us. But the most curious thing is that over the course of all these long years they have not changed much.
Indian and African elephant: who is bigger?
Even in the last century, scientists were sure that all elephants are the same, regardless of the region in which they live. However, more recent studies have shown this to be false. In fact, the largest elephant is African. An animal from the Black Continent overtakes its Asian relative both in body weight and in height.
It should also be noted that the African elephant is also divided into two large subspecies: savannah and forest. The first one is larger. It follows from this that the largest elephant in the world is the one that lives in the expanses of the African savannas. It is he who is the owner of the title "the largest land animal on the planet."
Some numbers: how much does an adult elephant weigh?
Let's start, probably, with the smallest representative of the elephant family - the Indian, or, as it is also called, the Asian elephant. This animal lives in Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand, India, Vietnam and China. On average, males of this species grow up to 2.5-3 m in height, and their weight ranges from 4.0-4.5 tons. Females are much shorter than their cavaliers - they rarely grow more than 2.4 m and weigh about 2-2.5 tons.
The African forest elephant is in many ways similar to its Indian relative. Especially it concernsits proportions. So, the males of this species grow up to 3 m in height, however, today you rarely meet such strong men. On average, forest elephants reach 2.6 m, and their weight ranges from 2.5-3 tons. Females have approximately the same body proportions and are only slightly inferior to their cavaliers.
As for the savannah subspecies, it is truly the largest elephant on the planet. These giants can grow up to 4 meters in height, and their maximum weight varies between 5-6 tons. Their body length reaches 6-7 meters. At the same time, females, like those of other subspecies, are much smaller than their cavaliers.
The biggest elephant in the world: who is he?
According to the old archives, the largest was an elephant caught by hunters in Angola in the 19th century. Its weight was just under 12.5 tons, and each tusk weighed at least 50 kilograms. However, given the time of the incident, it is rather difficult to confirm the veracity of these documents.
But the official data suggests that the biggest elephant is Yossi. That is the name of the 32-year-old African giant living in the Safari Park near the city of Romat Gan. The weight of this animal is 6 tons, and its height is 3.7 meters. At the same time, the elephant is still quite young, and therefore there is a high probability that Yossi will grow even more over the next ten years.
A few interesting facts about elephants
Few people know that:
- The largest Indian elephant was shot dead in 1924. He weighed 8 tons and was 3.35 meters tall.
- With strong legs, the elephant is nevertheless the only animal on the planet that does not know how to jump at all.
- In one day, an adult male can eat about 200 kilograms of plant food and drink 300 liters of water.
- Elephants rarely kneel or squat. Moreover, these animals sleep standing up, and only small elephants are able to lie on their side.
- Despite such large body proportions, an elephant can run at a speed of 40 km/h. While running, he easily breaks through a brick wall, and in case of panic, he will completely trample anyone who gets under his feet.
