March 13th is a special day in Thailand, as it celebrates "Elephant Day," a holiday to celebrate the importance of elephants in the country's history and culture. But did you know that elephants have an even bigger role to play than just being cultural symbols?
According to Nature Geoscience, if African elephants were to go extinct, atmospheric greenhouse gases would increase by 7%, worsening the climate crisis. Meanwhile, Asian elephants are already classified as endangered.
Let's take a closer look at some lesser-known but fascinating facts about elephants and how they contribute to the world we share.
Elephants: More Than Just Gentle Giants
Elephants are known for being gentle, smart, and humble, and that makes them popular in zoos and cultural celebrations. Historically, they've been incredibly useful to humans—they're strong enough to do heavy labor and even serve as transportation. Wild elephants have even participated in conflicts, helping humanity in various ways.
But beyond that, elephants play an essential role in ecosystems, acting as "ecosystem engineers" who help maintain the habitat and biodiversity of forests. Their role in ecosystems benefits other wildlife as well.
Elephants help maintain habitat diversity by spreading plant seeds through their droppings. Their tusks can dig up water sources, benefiting other animals in the area. Because of these contributions, elephants are a key part of the natural balance, supporting a diverse range of life forms.
The Growing Threat to Elephants' Habitat
Sadly, elephants are facing an increasing threat to their habitats. Forests, which have long been their home, are being destroyed due to human encroachment. People are buying land for commercial purposes, and industrial development is causing a decline in the quality of life for elephants and other animals. These activities also lead to more human-elephant conflicts as elephants are forced out of their natural environments. Worse still, elephant poaching continues, especially for their tusks. This puts elephants at grave risk of extinction.
Five Surprising Elephant Facts You Need to Know
Greenpeace's Thailand office created a list of five fascinating elephant facts to help us better understand the crucial role these creatures play in our world. Let's dive into these facts, and remember, that every little action can contribute to elephant conservation.
1. Do Elephants Eat Sugar Cane?
Elephants are the largest land mammals on Earth, and they're also some of the largest vegetarians in the world. While many people associate elephants with eating sugar cane or bananas, their diet is much broader. Elephants consume a variety of plants, including grasses, bamboo, and other vegetation. Elephants in captivity can eat up to 10% of their body weight in food each day!
Sadly, forests have been heavily damaged by fires—many of which are human-caused. These fires destroy vital plant life and contribute to air pollution and global warming, which in turn accelerates climate change.
2. Why Do Captive Elephants Need Supplements?
Elephants in captivity often can't access their natural food sources, so their caretakers must supplement their diet. Elephants enjoy seasonal fruits like bananas and sugar cane, but their caretakers often mix these with herbs and plants to help keep their diet balanced. These supplements help stimulate their appetite, especially when they feel down or experience discomfort, such as bloating.
In the summer, when temperatures soar, elephants can become depressed and lethargic. Sometimes, villagers bring the elephants to swim in cool waters, but the real solution lies in tackling climate change—if we can reduce global temperatures, elephants will remain comfortable in their natural habitats.
3. Why Do Elephants Fall Over?
Elephants occasionally fall over, and this usually happens during their most active and reproductive periods, when they are around 20 to 40 years old. High temperatures can cause elephants to feel exhausted and disoriented, which may result in them collapsing on the ground. Villagers often take them to cool rivers to swim and help them recover. However, the real solution is to stop global temperatures from rising so we can ensure elephants stay healthy and happy.
4. Do Wild Elephants Have Poor Vision During the Day?
Believe it or not, wild elephants have poor vision during the day. They can only clearly see things up to about 7.6 meters away in broad daylight! Instead of relying solely on sight, elephants use other senses, such as their long trunks, to sniff the air for unusual smells. They also rely heavily on their hearing—sensitive to even the smallest sounds, like the break of a twig or the crunching of leaves.
However, if their environment is polluted or filled with unpleasant smells, like chemicals from factories, elephants can inhale harmful substances, which may hurt their health and survival. This highlights the significant impact human activity has on wildlife.
5. Elephants Are the Largest Land Animals
When it comes to land animals, elephants are the undisputed giants. They hold two world records: the largest weight and the longest body length of any terrestrial animal. The average Asian elephant weighs about 4,200 kg, but the largest elephants can reach a whopping 13,000 kg! On average, an elephant's length is around 5.94 meters, with some even stretching up to 6.66 meters!
The Elephant's Struggle for Survival
Unfortunately, the survival of elephants is in serious jeopardy. In Africa, poaching for tusks has been an ongoing problem for decades, while Asian elephants have been listed as endangered since 1986. Over the past 75 years, their population has dropped by at least 50%, and today fewer than 50,000 wild Asian elephants remain. With nearly 20% of the world's population living in areas where Asian elephants reside, habitat destruction has become their biggest threat.
Summary
As we lose the magnificent elephants from the forests, we must all do our part to help protect them. By supporting conservation efforts and advocating for stronger policies, we can ensure a future where elephants can thrive. Let's work together to protect these majestic creatures—after all, we're all in this together, Lykkers!
