Dear Friends,
We have adopted an African Elephant in the Toronto Zoo and called it "Buku."
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Here is a brief history of African elephants.
Elephants are endangered animals. Destruction of forest habitat due to human encroachement and the conversion to farmlands, as well as unregulated and/or illegal trade in ivory are serious threats to their survival.
The elephant is the largest living terrestial animal. In general males weigh between 4,400-5,500 kg and measure approximately 2.95-3.6m at the shoulder.The females which are smaller, weigh about 2,230-3,470, and measure 2.25-2.65m at the shoulder.
The elephant prefers the edge between grassland and forest, especially near rivers; also found in deep forests, open savannas, wet marshes, thornbush, and semi-dfesert scrub.
They are entirely vegeterian. Their diet consists of grass, tree foliage, twigs, herbs, shrubs, roots and fruit.
The elephant's head is huge and sits on a short neck. The ears are large and fan shaped. They have thick pillar like legs; with three toes on the hind legs and four toes on the forefeet.
Their color is a brownish grey and their skin is creased and folded. The most conspicuous external feature of the elephant is the trunk, which is flexible and muscular. The trunk is a great elongation of the nose.The trunk serves a multitude of purposes; it is used for breathing, pulling up vegetation,drinking, throwing dust, squirting water, vocalizations and as a snorkel as well as an organ of touch, smell and communication. Elephants have six complete sets of molars, and one incisor tooth on each side of the upper jaw is greatly develpoed to form a tusk composed of ivory. The tusks grow continuously throughout life.
Elephants are social animals and usually travel in herds ,made up of females and their calves led by an older female or the matriarch. As they mature, young males are driven out of the clan at puberty, 8-20 years old, forming their separate all-male troops. Elephants have been found in herds of several hundred, although about twenty individuals is more common.
Breeding happens any time during the year. Newborns weigh between 100-120 kg. It is able to stand within 15-30 minutes and will follow its mother back to the family unit. Growth is throughout life over a potential span of 60 to 70 years.
The African elephants are found in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Uganda and Zaire.
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This is BUKU
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