Uploaded January 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
It seems almost impossible to imagine, but centuries ago, elephants flourished in Asia, their trumpet blasts echoing through jungles far and wide. Even at the turn of the 20th century, there were some 200,000 Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in the wild. Today, with only some 35,000 to 40,000 remaining, the elephants' natural range has diminished to only a few places on the continent. Fortunately, the elephant has managed to persist in Anamalai. And if you happened to hike through the lands of the Elephant Mountain, and came upon an elephant herd, you'd bear witness to an increasingly rare sight.
An elephant herd is a complex, female-dominated society. A female elephant, or matriarch, oversees every herd, which usually consists of five or six related animals. Because they are dependent on the herd for food and protection, and reliant on the guidance of their mother, daughters of the matriarch typically stay with the herd for most, if not all, of their lives. Male elephants, on the other hand, play little role in the life of the herd. Even by the age of five, young male elephants assert their independence, and by adulthood, they depart the herd, establishing home ranges of their own, and leading solitary lives.
Elephants Love Their Mamas
"The Living Edens: Anamalai" follows the development of an elephant calf in his first year. The film illuminates one of the most intriguing aspects of elephant culture, matriarchal as it is -- the relationship between mothers and their offspring. In fact, there are many elements of elephant motherhood that can't help but bring human motherhood to mind.
To begin, female elephants carry their developing young for 20-22 months, longer than any other mammal. When the calves are finally born, they are massive, weighing between 150 and 230 pounds. And that's only the beginning. Elephant milk is incredibly rich, and for the first four months of their lives, when they're feeding only from their mothers, elephant calves consume nearly 20 pints of milk a day. Drinking that much milk results in gaining nearly 30 pounds a week.
For the first two to three years of life, baby elephants are utterly dependent on their mothers for feeding. After age two, when a calf starts to eat on its own, the mother's milk remains a critical part of its diet. (Eating, incidentally, along with resting and travelling, account for most of a young elephant's day.) The other female elephants in a herd -- the calf's aunts -- aid its mother, providing protection and caring for the calf. Sadly, should a calf be orphaned before it's two years old, even its aunts can't do enough to keep it alive.
How long do elephants stay with their mothers? On average, for 16 years -- just about the same amount of time that human children rely on their parents.
It seems almost impossible to imagine, but centuries ago, elephants flourished in Asia, their trumpet blasts echoing through jungles far and wide. Even at the turn of the 20th century, there were some 200,000 Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in the wild. Today, with only some 35,000 to 40,000 remaining, the elephants' natural range has diminished to only a few places on the continent. Fortunately, the elephant has managed to persist in Anamalai. And if you happened to hike through the lands of the Elephant Mountain, and came upon an elephant herd, you'd bear witness to an increasingly rare sight.
An elephant herd is a complex, female-dominated society. A female elephant, or matriarch, oversees every herd, which usually consists of five or six related animals. Because they are dependent on the herd for food and protection, and reliant on the guidance of their mother, daughters of the matriarch typically stay with the herd for most, if not all, of their lives. Male elephants, on the other hand, play little role in the life of the herd. Even by the age of five, young male elephants assert their independence, and by adulthood, they depart the herd, establishing home ranges of their own, and leading solitary lives.
Elephants Love Their Mamas
"The Living Edens: Anamalai" follows the development of an elephant calf in his first year. The film illuminates one of the most intriguing aspects of elephant culture, matriarchal as it is -- the relationship between mothers and their offspring. In fact, there are many elements of elephant motherhood that can't help but bring human motherhood to mind.
To begin, female elephants carry their developing young for 20-22 months, longer than any other mammal. When the calves are finally born, they are massive, weighing between 150 and 230 pounds. And that's only the beginning. Elephant milk is incredibly rich, and for the first four months of their lives, when they're feeding only from their mothers, elephant calves consume nearly 20 pints of milk a day. Drinking that much milk results in gaining nearly 30 pounds a week.
For the first two to three years of life, baby elephants are utterly dependent on their mothers for feeding. After age two, when a calf starts to eat on its own, the mother's milk remains a critical part of its diet. (Eating, incidentally, along with resting and travelling, account for most of a young elephant's day.) The other female elephants in a herd -- the calf's aunts -- aid its mother, providing protection and caring for the calf. Sadly, should a calf be orphaned before it's two years old, even its aunts can't do enough to keep it alive.
How long do elephants stay with their mothers? On average, for 16 years -- just about the same amount of time that human children rely on their parents.
![Cuteness in This Video : Cool Baby Elephants Learn To Swim [Elephant Calf]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/p-VVxUlPtL8/mqdefault.jpg "Cuteness in This Video : Cool Baby Elephants Learn To Swim [Elephant Calf]
baby elephant is called a calf. It weighs about 250 pounds at birth and stands about three feet tall. Calves cant see very well at first, but they can recognize their mothers by touch, scent, and sound.
Baby elephants stay very close to their mothers for the first couple of months. The calves drink their mothers milk for about two years, sometimes longer. They drink up to 3 gallons of milk a day! At about four months old, they also begin eating some plants, like adult elephants, but they continue to need as much milk from their mother. They keep drinking milk for up to ten years!
At first, baby elephants dont really know what to do with their trunks. They swing them to and fro and sometimes even step on them. They will suck their trunk just as a human baby might suck its thumb.
By about 6 to 8 months, calves begin learning to use their trunks to eat and drink. By the time they are a year old, they can control their trunks pretty well and, like adult elephants, use their trunks for grasping, eating, drinking, bathing.
Female elephants stay with the herd for life, while males leave to begin a solitary life at about 12 to 14 years of age.
Elephant Babies Coloring Page: Color this picture while you review the facts youve learned.
Species of Elephants
For many years scientists thought that there were two different species of elephants: Asian elephants and African elephants. However, in 2000, they began classifying African elephants into two distinct species, the African savanna elephant and the African forest elephant.
Elephant Vocabulary Worksheet : Discover more about elephants by with this vocabulary worksheet. Look up each word in a dictionary or online. Then, write the correct word on the blank line beside each definition.
Elephant Word Search : See how well you remember what you learned about elephants. Circle each word as you find it hidden among the letters in the word search. Refer to the worksheet for any terms whose meaning you dont remember.
African savanna elephants live in the area of Africa below the Sahara desert. African forest elephants live in the rain forests of Central and West Africa. The elephants that live in the African forest have smaller bodies and tusks than those that live on the savannas.
Asian elephants live in the scrub and rain forests of Southwest Asia, India, and Nepal.
Elephant Habitat Coloring Page : Review what youve learned about elephant Habitats.
Distinguishing Between Asian and African Elephants
There are many similarities between Asian and African elephants, but there are simple ways to distinguish one from the other. African elephants have much larger ears that seem to be shaped like the continent of Africa. They need large ears to cool off their bodies on the hot continent of Africa. Asian elephants ears are smaller and more rounded.
African Elephant Coloring Page
There is also a distinct difference in the shape of Asian and African elephants heads. Asian elephants heads are smaller than an African elephants head and have a double-dome shape.
Both male and female African elephants can grow tusks, though not all do. Only male Asian elephants grow tusks.
Asian Elephant Coloring Page
The Asian elephant is smaller than the African elephant. Asian elephants live in jungle habitats. Its entirely different than the deserts of Africa. Water and vegetation are more plentiful in the jungle. So Asian elephants do not need wrinkled skin to trap moisture or large ears to fan their bodies.
Even the trunks of Asian and African elephants are different. African elephants have two finger-like growths on the tip of their trunks; Asian elephants only have one.
Elephant Family Coloring Page : Do you think you can tell African and Asian elephants apart? Are these African elephants or Asian elephants? What are the identifying features?
Elephant Diet Coloring Page : All elephants are plant eaters (herbivores). Adult elephants eat about 300 pounds of food a day. It takes a long time to find and eat 300 pounds of food. They spend 16 to 20 hours a day eating!
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