How many elephants do they have and how do they care for their offspring?

Most people know the elephant as a huge, kind, but sad and awkward animal. These giants are very friendly, sociable and caring. Tourists are always attracted to these giants. They are interested in different questions: why they have big ears; How many elephants are pregnant and who is in the herd chief?

Lifestyle

Elephants are considered to be the largest animals that can be found on land. These giants belong to the class of mammals and are very social animals. Their natural habitat is Southeast Asia and Africa.

Elephants live in families, with complete matriarchy in their families, and the males are expelled at a young age from the herd (or they leave themselves). Adult males live solitary and approach the family only for mating with a mature female. The elephant family consists of a senior elephant, her daughters (with children) and other female relatives.

By nature, elephants are nomads. It is the older female who leads her family in search of food, and she decides where to go, where and how much time to rest.

These huge animals are very communicative and with pleasure communicate with their own kind. Tactile contact plays a huge role in the life of giants. They touch each other with a trunk, they stroke it in greeting, the older ones kick the younger ones as punishment. With great attention to each other members of one family, special care and attention goes to a sick or dying elephant.

The question of how many elephants the pregnancy lasts for a long time remained controversial in the scientific community. But to date, thanks to the observations, studies and documentation of zoologists, much is known about the period of pregnancy, childbirth and the subsequent care for the cub of these mighty herbivores.

Elephant: Pregnancy

Months of pregnancy, of course, she does not consider herself an elephant. But elephants are the leader in the period of bearing offspring. Pregnancy of the female elephant is the longest.

The question of how many elephants the pregnancy lasts is one of the most popular after questions about a woman's pregnancy. These herbivores carry offspring from 20 to 22 months (almost 2 years).

By the 19th month the fetus is practically formed and only gaining weight. When the elephant feels that the hour of childbirth is approaching, she is moving away from the herd. Often, another mother is accompanying the woman in childbirth. Childbirth lasts more than 2 hours.

Previously, scientists believed that the age of the elephant depends on the sex of the baby elephant. It was believed that if a baby elephant-male appears in the world, then the pregnancy is several months longer. During the research this assumption was rejected. The duration of elephant pregnancy is affected by the climate, weather conditions, food and individual characteristics of the female.

Sexual maturity occurs in the 10-12th year of life. For all life the female can give birth to 9 elephants, extremely rarely twins are born. It should be 4 or 5 years after childbirth so that the elephant can become pregnant again.

Young

After conducting various studies, scientists explained such a long period of elephant pregnancy. The fact is that the baby in the womb develops very well in all directions: physically and mentally. And half an hour after birth, the baby can stand up and follow his mother.

A baby elephant is milked by the mother's milk for up to a year and a half (although it may take up to the fifth year of life). To feed the baby the female becomes over the mound. The elephant gets on this hill and gets to the udder. If the female is the first-born, she may not know this method of feeding, the baby elephant will not reach the udder and will remain hungry. More experienced females will run for his weeping, and if there is a "milk" among them, she will feed him.

In the first year of life a baby elephant does not know how to use a trunk, so he drinks water and sucks milk with his mouth. Over time, the mother teaches the baby to own its trunk. Solid food begins to take the baby from 6 months, but only after two years can fully switch to an adult diet. Elephants, like small children, love to play, get dirty and have fun.

Motherhood

Elephants quickly learn to live in a family. By the way, young females, who have not yet reached puberty (2-11 years), look after newborns. It is believed that this way they try on the role of the mother.

An elephant before 4 years old strongly needs a mother, she follows him, leads him. Tactile contact between them is always present: it flaps it with a trunk, slightly pushes the foot, touches its tail, the baby rubs against her leg if he is tired of walking, and about the mother's stomach if he gets hungry.

Elephants take great care of their offspring, and if something threatens them, they wrap the kids around their trunks and carry them away.

Interesting Facts

For many, the fact how many elephants have a pregnancy lasts, is itself amusing and causes curiosity. But nature has awarded these amazing animals with different unusual abilities and qualities, which is often the reason for the spread of legends and winged expressions:

• Despite their size, elephants are very good swimmers.
• They are good for the representatives of the animal world developed self-awareness, they recognize themselves in the mirror.
• They use tools, for example, a branch is used as a fly swatter.
• Studies have shown that they have a very good memory (they perform tasks in the study, and in the nature they recognize their relatives).
• There is a legend that elephants are afraid of mice, because one small rodent can crawl into the trunk and block air access. It is not true. Even if the mouse gets into the trunk, the elephant will blow it out with outrageous force.
• These animals are well developed musical ear and memory, they are able to distinguish three-note melodies.
• Ears serve to regulate body temperature and swings.
• The pattern of veins on the ears of elephants is as unique as the fingerprint of a man.
• Adult individuals sleep standing up.
• They know how to jump, because they have only 2 knee cups.