Although female elephants' tusks also continue to develop, their growth is less pronounced. As a result, the tusks of a female elephant, or cow, tend to be more slender than those a male elephant the same age. An elephant uses its tusks for everything from fighting to digging to feeding to marking. Elephants have been known to use their tusks to push over trees, which they then feed on. When competing for mates, male elephants will use their tusks to duel against each other violently.
More aggressive elephants tend to have shorter, broken tusks than their calmer counterparts.