The elephant and mainly the African elephant, African bush elephant, or the African forest elephant is one of the most feared, loved, adorable dangerous animals and the most spectacular animal while on an African safari or just at the zoo any where in the wild or in captivity. Nowhere in the world are there many elephants other than the beautiful African Savannah lands of southern and eastern Africa.
These great animals of the plains and jungle of Africa you find that the elephants of the genus Loxodonta, known collectively as African elephants, are mainly found in 37 countries in Africa notably Kenya, Tanzania and South Africawhich together account for the highest number of elephants.
These African elephants are found in their natural habitat where elephants are protected in the national parks, game reserves and private ranches where elephants are raised as well. Many people wonder as to why the African elephants are different from the Asian elephants.
With a great deal of comparison and different elephant physical features, the majestic members of the Big five African elephants are distinguished from Asian elephants in several ways.
The African elephants have bigger ears which look like the map of Africa while the Asian elephants have smaller ears. The African elephants are equipped with two finger like projections at the tip of their trunk which gives them an edge over the Asian elephants which have only one
As the biggest animal on land, the African elephant is larger than the Asian elephant and has a concave back. While poaching of elephants is very rampant in both Asia and Africa, these beautiful elephants are poached because e of their lovely trunks. The Asian elephants have trunks but only for the male elephants while in Africa both male and female elephants have trunks and are less hairy than the Asian elephants.
With many animal safari tourist or travelers going on safaris to Africa to see the African elephant which is one of the Big Five and the most respectable animal in the African Savannah, these giant elephants of the Africa jungle have seen their good days and bad days as well. African safari travelers have captured very good elephant pictures while in their best behavior and breath taking moments which only take a nano second to get an elephant image of a life time.
These elephant great pictures were just some of the greatest moment on one of the elephant animal safari. Living up to their names, the dangerous Nile crocodiles undeterred by the sheer African elephant pounds of muscles the Nile crocodile wanted to make a meal out of the unsuspecting other elephant and hope to come for more as the days go by as was the case with this one lucky African elephant and one lucky Nile crocodile as well.
Photographer Martin Nyfeler was traveling through South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. The park is blessed with a very big number of animal species such as the African elephant, leopards, the capebuffalo, the king of the African jungle: the African savannah lion the spotted hyenas, Cookson’s wildebeest, bushbuck, zebra, warthog, apes such as baboon, vervet monkey, puku and impala, hartebeest, reedbuck and the eland. And different types of bird species as well.
It was at this juncture when the wits, guts and the strengths of the African elephant were put to the test. As the elephant moment presented itself, the female elephant and her baby were drinking from the Luangwa River. Leaping out of the murky waters a vicious crocodile set upon the pair, biting into the female's trunk within some split of a few seconds, the mother elephant was free to roam the African savannah plains and to join his heard in the African elephant train.
In the African savannah land, the African lion is the main predator to elephants. Young African elephants are always attacked by pride of lions day in and day out. With no tusks to protect themselves with, many lonely elephants which are separated from the elephant heard are always vulnerable to such attacks. But when the Nile crocs are also gearing up to put elephants and not wildebeest in their food chain, there is always more action to see while one is out there on an elephant animal safari where every moment and turn is just a great animal moment to capture on picture.
What happened to the elephant is a thing of the past. Could the elephant attack by the Nile crocodile been avoided that is also one of natures greatest mysteries which only the elephant and the Nile crocodile could tell. Are there such incidences where crocodiles hide and attack elephants in many other parts of the world? Yes, there are may other instances too.
Not just small elephants are vulnerable to the Nile crocodile attacks, big African elephants have to struggle hard to get away from the sharp strong jaws of the mighty African Nile crocodiles. It sounds strange as to why the Nile crocodile likes to tease the African elephant with its trunk. If there had been any chance for the Nile crocodile to perform its death spin. I doubt whether the African elephant trunk would still be part of the elephant’s trunk.
Have you ever thought of an elephant without its trunk? How would an elephant look like without it. The wise guess would be the elephant would justbleed to death if it had an open would or not have its trunk and how about food, the elephant would not be able to crown down to grab and cut the grass and put it in its mouth because of its long tusks. Would that have meant the end of life to our beautiful African elephant? It’s hard to tell with all these mysteries of the different animal adaptation and survival for the fittest predator and prey animal habitat.
The elegant African elephants always use their beautiful trunks to tear up their diet which is mostly comprised of grass, leaves and fruits found in the African Savannah and any other elephant habitat. The elephant usually manipulates the trunk and what ever food is caught by the trunk is placed in the mouth.
it in their mouths.
Just like the tallest animal in the world also a friend of the African elephant when it comes to height notably the giraffe, the African elephant also uses its trunk grasp leaves, fruit, or entire branches unlike the giraffe which uses its long tongue to grab and eat what is to be eaten. As it has been in many other cases when there is drought, many elephants are forced to find food on higher grounds and the acacia trees provide all the nutrients and solutions when there is a shortage of green grass or the temperatures are just inevitable to support any undergrowth.
I many a times scores of trees both big and small are uprooted using the trunk. Young shoots or plants fall victim of the elephant trunk while the old trees when swayed bu the giant African elephants sometimes do not stand a chance and in the end they fall down and give rise to another usage within the ecosystem.
Many people out there that the elephant trunk is used by the elephant to drink water. This is not the case. When swimming, elephant uses its trunk to breath while it us above water just like a snorkel. On the other hand, the elephant uses its trunk to scoop gallons of water and then splash it into its mouth. What a wonderful feeling this is unlike any other animal which needs to stoop down on its needs just to have that water down the throat in the summer heat across the African great plains with every eyes of the predator eyeing the water hole or nearby river and lakes.
While the elephants are having a nice time in the water, these beautiful animals will suck up water and spray as rain on their bodies during bathing. Such a spectacular image of an elephant splashing water is just the pleasure a safari lover would wish to do while in the wilderness as well.
When the change of weather calls for drastic medication, the African elephant uses its trunk to just after taking the water bath then scoops dirt or sand with its trunk as well and then sprays it on its body. People always wonder how come its only in African where you have red elephants. Where did all these red elephants come from? These cleaver elephants have mastered the laws of nature and the only way to stay healthy and beautiful and to look unique in the elephant country is just by throwing that red mud on top of their skin. Ask any body who has been to Tsavo.
These red elephants look amazing just because of the rich red volcanic soil which is home to these beautiful African elephants. When the elephant's menu cure and pedicure has ended, the dirt and the mud which covers the elephant dries up with the harmful insects as and also acts as a protective sunscreen thanks to the long powerful elephant trunk which many other animals wish they also had the same.
With so many elephant herds roaming miles and miles along the African savannah and crossing borders of Kenya and Tanzania where many of the greatest elephant’s population are located, it’s amazing to know that elephants do recognize their enemies and their elephant cousins as well. Elephants belonging to the same linage will greet each other just like any social animals by entwining their trunks.
When the elephant close bond is established these beautiful elephants will use their trunks while play which is always an amazing site. Elephants do wrestle sometimes with their trunks to show the dominant elephant in the heard as well and for the sake of showing off mainly for the young elephants which are almost reaching maturity mainly by caressing during courtship. There are many other instances out in the wild where mother elephants have managed to rescue their babies when they have gotten stuck in the water bath in many of the great African safari elephants caught of video or just amazing elephant photos of elephants being rescued by their mothers.
The plight of the African elephant will always be at the two finger tip trunk smelling the air as it raises its trunk to show dominance, a warning or threat and viciously defending themselves very well by flailing their trunks at unwanted intruders who poach and raid them of their beautiful trunks and deny them their elephant rights to walk the African jungles from the Mediterranean see to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.
