Elephant Elephant Elephants are known for their keen sense of smell and hearing, compensating for their poor eyesight. Even though they are the largest and most powerful land mammal, they are gentle and peaceful. Females live in family units. Young males are driven from the family when they reach puberty to live in bachelor herds.
Adult males live alone joining family units only to mate.
African elephants weigh between 3 and 6 tons and measure 10 feet to the shoulders. The lifespan of an elephant lasts between 50 and 70 years. Elephants are vegetarians, feeding on grass, foilage, fruit, branches and twigs. Its massive body requires 200 to 600 pounds of food per day and around 50 gallons of water. Herds can cover distances of over 50 miles a day, but never move far from water.