Christiansburg Elemamentry
School
Submitted by Little Bit, Grade 5th
Christiansburg, Virginia, USA
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Elephant |
Why Study This Topic
What I would like to know about Elephants is how much it weighs and how
much it eats.I want to know how and why they are endangered species.I want
to know why they are hunted.I'd also like to know how much they eat, how
long is their trunk.I am interested in this animal, because it is huge.
It eats a lot of food. It must drink lots of water too.
I like how it takes care of its young. I like its big tusks. I hope people
will let future generations enjoy its greatness.
What I Already Know
What I already know about
African elephant is that it can weigh almost ten tons! I knew that
it had ivory tusks. I knew that the animal lived in Savannah in Africa.
I knew that it had its baby and fed them milk. I also knew it is endangered,
because people hunt them for their ivory to make jewelry. That
is why the ivory is so valuable. Did you know that the baby elephants can
drink up to 11.4 liters of milk a day? Elephants can live up to seventy
years old or eighty years old. Elephants are very cool and
neat.
Search for Information
I searched the Internet
for information on the African elephant. Here are some of the places I
searched : CPS, Sailfish, and Ebsco. Those are good web sites. I
also looked in World Book Encyclopedia.
I looked about eleven times in a book before I found any information. My
other problem was the Internet. I had a problem because it kept giving
Asian information.
Description of Animal
The African elephant has dark gray skin. It has a
smooth head. Its ears can be up to four feet long. Its trunk can be eleven
feet long, but usually are eight to nine feet long.
It can weigh up to 14,500 pounds. It is 11 feet
tall. The male elephant is called a bull, and the female is called a cow.
The elephant has lots of wrinkles. The elephant
is the same height from the front to the rear end. Its skin is also bumpy
and scaly.
Habitat Requirements
Usually you might think that the Elephant lives in
the jungle, but it doesn’t. It lives in the sub Saharan Africa, but
it doesn't live in the desert or desert steep. The Elephants live there
because there is water. Rhinos also live around the Elephants.
African is south of the Saharan desert. The African Elephant lives
in a herd and the herd might be made up of a family and another family.
Reasons for Endangerment
Poachers for many of years have hunted down the elephant.
The poachers are after the elephant's ivory tusks. Some places made laws
that keep poachers from killing the elephant in those areas. Some
areas didn't make laws so poachers go to the places were there are no laws
against poaching elephants. People who can't make laws can stop buying
ivory things. Since some places don't make laws, 80% of the
elephants have been killed and they are on the brink of extinction.
Adaptations
I’ve learned that the elephant is almost the largest animal
that lives on land. Elephants are very good swimmers for their size. The
elephant have a speical adaptaion, they have a trunk to clean off
themselves. There are lots of predators like the Lion, Chettah, and human.
The elephant is herbiove. It eats leaves and peanuts.
Restoration Actions
Poachers for many years
have hunted down the elephant. The poachers are after the elephants ivory
tusks. Some places made laws that keep poachers from killing the elephant
in those areas. Some areas didn't make laws so poachers go to the
places were there are no laws against poaching elephants. People
who can't make laws can stop buying ivory things. Since some places
don't make laws 80% of the elephants have been killed and they are on the
brink of extinction.
What Was Learned
I’ve learned that the elephant is almost the
largest animal that lives on land. Elephants are very good swimmers for
their size. I have learned why it’s endangered and what humans did to help
it. People have built animal refuges to put the Elephants in so poachers
can’t harm them. Animal refuges aren’t like zoo’s they are more like
a protected home. Humans aren’t the only predators of the African Elephant.
Laws were made, as you probable knew from above.
Conclusions From Research
I learned that the Elephant
was killed for many dumb reasons. I don’t know why people would want
to kill an animal. I fully understand the African Elephant. I will
do anything in my power to save the African Elephant. People who are young
should help. Later in the future young people could help endangered
animals.
Bibliography
http://www.yahooligans.com/
http://www.nature.ca/notebooks/english/afeleph.htm
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/mammals/elephant/Africancoloring.shtml
http://www.sazoo-aq.org/afreleph.html
http://www.oaklandzoo.org/atoz/azeleph.html
http://www.hendrix.edu/elephant/
Return to Mammal page.
If you would like to add to these Endangered Species
pages then email your contributions to Christiansburg
Elementary
© copyright 2000
Christiansburg Elementary |
Last updated on January 24, 2000
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