Gentle Giants Of Animals

Elephants are wonderful animals! They are the largest mammals in the world that live on land. There are two kinds of elephants; African and Asian. Asian elephants have smaller ears and shorter tusks than African elephants. The African elephant is bigger and taller than the Asian elephant.

Elephants live in families. Several families live together in a "herd." The leader of the herd is usually the oldest female elephant. She is called the "matriarch." All the babies and other females follow her.A young male elephant stays with the herd until he is fourteen or fifteen years old. Then, he goes out on his own. The young male will try to find a female elephant for a companion.

Elephants are plant-eaters. Because they are such big animals, they need to eat large amounts of leaves, grass and tree bark. They spend as much as twenty hours a day eating! A full-grown African elephant can weigh more than 10,000 pounds!

Elephants have four teeth and two "tusks." The tusks are the long horn-like parts that come out the sides of their mouths. These tusks grow about seven inches a year, and can get up to twenty feet long! The tusks are made of ivory, which is very valuable.The elephants four teeth are molars. About every four years, the molars fall out and are replaced by new ones. The molars of an adult elephant can be up to ten inches long!

The ears of a full-grown African elephant are about five to six feet long and four feet wide. They sometimes flap their ears to cool themselves.An elephant's trunk is actually part nose and part upper lip. Elephants can breathe through their trunks. They can also smell and pick up things with it. They can use it to put food into their mouths, and can even spray water with it! The trunk is used to feel things, too!

Elephants talk to each other by making sounds called "tummy rumbles." They also make a "trumpeting" sound to call to each other.In the past, many elephants were trained to perform tricks for circuses. They were often treated in a cruel manner. Today, there are laws to protect elephants and to ensure they are well-cared for.Elephants should be treasured. They are the "gentle giants" of the animal kingdom!

Source : www.essortment.com/kids-elephants-55564.html

Kings Of The Jungle

Males defend their territory, be it open woodland or scrub, through urinating to mark the area, roaring to promote fear and literally chasing off any intruders. Their main competition is spotted hyenas that often go for the same prey as lions. These animals will fight and steal each other's food. This warfare goes beyond food; it is also the problem of territorial boundaries being crossed.

Lions can be extremely aggressive and have been seen hunting hyenas, killing them and not eating their prey. They dominate and promote fear in other animals, such as cheetahs and leopards, so that they do not prey the same time that lions do. Males eat the prey first despite the females usually catching it. It can take up to four hours to finish a meal and can drink for an extremely long time straight after.

Basically the male lions defend and protect their territory as females hunt. This is their part to keep their pride thriving and growing. Lions are affectionate and playful when resting, which can usually take up to 16 - 20 hours a day, and extremely defensive and nasty when food is on the scene. They show their affection by head rubbing and licking. These animals are mostly known for their ferocious roar but they do also make other noises including meowing, woofing, purring, coughing and hissing.

Females are the prime hunters and work together to prey. They do this by splitting into groups. One group chases the animals to a certain area whilst another group waits to ambush the victims. Their technique and skill is highly praised for its complexity and precision. Each lion begins to develop their own unique role that's specific to contributing to the success of killing the intended prey. Their diet consists of prey as large as elephants, hyenas, hippos, rhinos, etc to something as small as lizard and mice. A lot of the time their food is scavenged.

Source : www.lions.org/lion-the-animal-more.html