How are elephants kept? Nowadays, three different kinds of elephant keeping are used in zoos: “Free Contact”, “Protected Contact” and “Offhand Management”. However, in circuses, elephants are being shown in the ring. Working with ...
Ivory
What is ivory? Being a biological product, the tusks are comparatively soft. The hardness of the ivory and so the suitability for carving vary depending on the origin, the habitat and the sex. So ...
Ankus, Elephant Hook and Whip
What is an elephant hook? The ankus or elephant hook, in the colloquial language of the elephant keepers briefly named hooks, is an very old aid in handling elephants by humans in a direct ...
Elephant foot and foot care
How do elephants walk? Elephants can neither run nor jump. Elephants walk on the tips of their fingers and on the tips of their toes. They are so-called digitigrades and belong to a group ...
European Elephant Group
Dear elephant lovers In 1993, 1997, 1999, 2001, as well as in 2002, the European Elephant Group published in cooperation with the association ELEFANTEN-SCHUTZ EUROPA e.V. [PROTECTION OF ELEPHANTS EUROPE, registered association] altogether 5 ...
Elephantbulls and bulls managements
Are bulls a big challenge? The male elephants represent a special challenge within the keeping of elephants. As is the case for most mammals, also with the elephants the male animal is stronger and ...
The birth of an elephant
Why are elephant births important? Every birth of an elephant, as well as in nature as in zoos, is very important for species conservation because both African and Asian elephants are menaced of extinction. Why ...
Bigness and weight of the elephants
How heavy is a fully-grown elephant? An approximately 20-year-old Asian elephant cow weighs 3500 – 4500 kg on average, and measures around 2.6 metres at the back. An elephant bull weighs about 5000 – ...
Asian elephants
Are there different sub-species? The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) can be divided by the zoologists in three subspecies: Ceylon elephant (Elephas maximus maximus) from Ceylon and/or SriLanka Indian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) or also ...
Ankus, Elephant hook and wipe
What is an elephant hook? The ankus or elephant hook, in the colloquial language of the elephant keepers briefly named hooks, is an very old aid in handling elephants by humans in a direct ...