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When it comes to the animals found on land, there is no other animal bigger than the African elephant.

There is no other animal like the elephant in the animal kingdom. They have a lot of uniquely identifiable properties.

For one, they are incredibly large in size, they have large ears that strangely seem to resemble the African continent in shape and they have long trunks that grow around 7 feet long with two huge white tusks protruding from their mouths.

African elephants reside in some of the warmest climates in the world and that means they really feel the heat. Their large ears are very helpful when it comes to cooling their bodies down. They flap their ears quite often and their circulatory system makes sure that there is plenty of water flowing through to their ears.

That isn’t enough to cool their large bodies down and that is why elephants are also known to be particularly fond of water. They really enjoy showering by sucking up water through their trunks and spraying it all over themselves. When they are not around water, they add an additional layer of dust on their skin for protection against the sun.

Their trunks are not just used for the sake of smelling and breathing. Their long trunks are extremely agile and the tips have a very good dexterity which allows them to grab things, drink water and trumpet to other elephants. Their trunks are particularly useful when it comes to grabbing their meals and placing it in their mouths to eat.

The tusks of the male and the female elephants are used by the elephants for a number of reasons like digging for food and water when the need arises. Male elephants use their tusks as deadly weapons when they are fighting one another for dominance.

African elephants account for one of the most endangered species on the planet because of the ivory trade. People had been killing them for their tusks for a very long time until ivory was declared illegal. While the global trade for ivory has stopped in the mainstream, there is still a high demand for ivory in the black market.

There are several populations of the elephants that are considered endangered because of the poachers that are still actively hunting the gentle giants.

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