Life on the Forest Floor

Elephants are found in the rainforests of Africa called the Congo, southeast Asia, and India. Rainforest elephants are usually smaller than elephants found in the savannas of Africa. Elephants are the largest animals found in the rainforest. Asian elephants are found in the rainforests of South East Asia, India and Sri Lanka. Asian elephants have dome shaped heads, small ears and a finger-like lip at the end of their trunk.

Elephants eat branches, bamboo, grasses, vines, soft shoots, bark, leaves and fruit. The elephants spend up to sixteen hours a day eating. The elephant uses its teeth to grind up the large amount of tough vegetable matter that it eats. Elephants use their trunks to eat and drink. The trunk is also used for breathing, bathing, smelling and for communicating. Elephants use their trunk to drink by sucking water up into their trunk and then squirt it into their mouth. The lip at the end of the trunk is used to pick up leaves, seeds and nuts. Their teeth get worn down, but another one grows in it’s spot. An elephant has six sets of teeth during its lifetime and dies of starvation when the last set wears out.

Elephants also spend a lot of time moving around the forest in herds. Herds are led by the head female called the “matriarch”.