Happy birthday to my Aunt who loves elephants!! I have been drawing and painting elephants for her since I started working on art. She has always been a huge support and proudly displays African elephants I've created throughout the years, so of course I had to paint one for her birthday Doodle.
Did you know that the word “Elephant” is actually latin for “huge arch”? These animals certainly are huge and impressive beasts. In fact, the elephant is the largest living land mammal in the world.
African Elephants are the largest land animal in existence today. The average African elephant will grow to between 8.2 to 13 feet (2.5 to 4 meters) from shoulder to toe and weigh between 5,000 to 14,000 pounds. (2,268 to 6,350 kilograms), according to National Geographic.
The largest African elephant ever recorded was found in Angola, rocking in at a massive 24,000 pounds, with a shoulder height of 3.96 meters (13.0 ft), and being at least a meter taller than the average male African elephant!
Male elephants can grow to be significantly larger than their female counterparts. Still a mighty animal, female elephants, or “Cows” only grow to somewhere around 9 and 13 feet and weigh from 6,000 to 8,000 pounds.
Both genders grow ivory tusks, which are actually elongated incisor teeth. However, the male's tusks are longer and heavier, weighing between 110 and 175 pounds each. Females' tusks weigh approximately 40 pounds each.
African elephants are famous for their very large ears. Considered to be shaped much like the continent of Africa itself, the large surface area of their ears helps to keep them cool in the blazing hot African sun.
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