Elephants The elephant is the largest and heaviest mammal on land. An elephant’s trunk is very important. The elephant can smell danger, suck up water, and lift heavy objects with it. There are fingers on the end of the trunk that it uses to pick berries and leaves from trees. African elephants use their tusks to dig, to get bark off trees, and to lift things. The huge ears and the folds and wrinkles in the skin help it to keep cool. African elephants have no one place that is home. Every day they feed, sleep, and travel to new feeding areas. As long as there is food and water to drink and bathe in they are happy. They will usually sleep standing up for a few hours during the day and in the middle of the night. Elephants are plant eaters. They spend most of the day and the night eating. With their trunk they reach leaves that are high up and shake trees to bring down fruit. They use their tusks to dig up roots to eat. The older elephants teach the younger ones where to find food and water. Female elephants live in family groups. They usually stay with the group they are born into. The oldest female is the leader. She knows where to find food and water and how to keep the family safe. When the male calves are fully grown, they leave the family and spend most of their time alone or with other males. Females have a calf every four to six years. The calf has a lot to learn. It takes many months to learn how to control its trunk. All the family care for the young elephants. As female calves grow up, they take over looking after the very young elephants. Because adult elephants are so big, predators leave them alone. Drought is their biggest worry because they need water every day. Today elephants in Africa have to live in smaller areas because people take more and more land for farming. The real danger for elephants comes from hunters who kill them for their tusks.

Headings and Trigger words: Use this column to write down a heading and trigger words to summarise each paragraph. classification Mammal Physical features Trunk Fingers on trunk habitats No place reproduction calf every four to six years. Social behavior Female elephants live in family groups. Predators