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.
It is not uncommon, however, for an elephant to prefer using one tusk over another, and for the preferred tusk to be shorter than its companion. A day in the life of an African elephant consists largely of roaming, feeding and residing at water holes, where the animals bathe and drink. Bulls usually travel alone or with other males, though small, temporary herds of bachelor males are known to sometimes form. Females form herds that include their young and other cows. Males will join the female herds at mating time.