AFRICA
ENDANGERED ANIMALS
African Elephant
Habitat
The African Elephant lives in dense forests, Savanna, grasslands, marshes, thorn bush, semi dessert, scrub, and Arid dessert. The terrain for this animal is sub Saharan Africa, and rain forests of central and west Africa. The climate the Elephant lives in is very hot and the heat is too much sometimes for the Elephant to handle. The elephant is only a land animal and you can find them in the open woodland or throughout Africa (ARK).
Description
The African elephant is a mammal. They have round big ears and their skin is grey and is very wrinkly. The skin is wrinkly which helps for keeping the body cool (Ark). Also, because Africa is so hot, the ears radiate to keep the elephants cool (ENCYLO). The Elephants size ranges between to 7 to 13 feet. These elephants can weigh up to 6 tons. Also, their tusks weigh up to 20-40 kilograms. (EI)
Food Chain
The elephants food sources during the wet season is grass, and leaves. They dig for roots, flowers, and fruits. They are complete herbivores, and do not hunt. They have no predators except humans however, rarely lions and crocodiles hunt on baby elephants. Most elephants can consume 300 pounds of food daily (AP). They draw water out of their trunks and they need 30-50 gallons of water per day. They find their food in the forest or jungle, and they only eat fresh food. (ARK)
Critical Info, Adaptation
The African Elephants have excellent memory, which helps them remember water holes and eating places. They use their tusks to dig and their trunk to pull. (AP) The African elephant population dropped from one million to 480,000. Plants rely on elephants digestive track to germinate and canopies rely on elephants for re-growth. (AI) The main reason for the endangerment for African Elephant is , the killing of elephants for ivory. SAVING ELEPHANTS IS ALSO SAVING THE FOREST! Also, there are many other things that could be used instead of ivory. If the killing of elephants continues to happen elephant population will become completely extinct by 2020! (NG)
CAN YOU IMAGINE GROWING UP AND YOUR KIDS NOT KNOWING WHAT AN ELEPHANT IS...
Links to other engangered african animals!
Cheetah: https://www.smore.com/pzd9-africa
Asian Tiger: https://www.smore.com/0ehf-africa
Work Cited
photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rainbirder/8218179600/">Rainbirder</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>
photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/arnolouise/3246153693/">Arno Meintjes Wildlife</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/">cc</a>
photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/arnolouise/471191309/">Arno Meintjes Wildlife</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/">cc</a>