Mondo Knows Facts
The African bush elephant is the largest living land animal
Adult males can reach weights of six tonnes and stand four metres tall
Native to Sub-Saharan Africa, male African bush elephants weigh up to six tonnes and reach shoulder heights of four metres. Their large ears help dissipate body heat in warm climates. They use their long trunks, containing over 40,000 individual muscles, to drink water, gather food, and communicate.
Where this comes from
Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
Go further
More facts like this
The giraffe is the tallest living terrestrial animal on the planetExtensive leg and neck lengths allow adults to reach heights over five metresThe cheetah is the fastest running mammal on landShort sprints achieve speeds up to 100 kilometres per hourThe blue whale is the largest animal known to have ever existedAdult blue whales reach lengths of thirty metres and weigh up to 200 tonnesElephants communicate over miles using low-frequency vibrationsElephants detect seismic infrasound waves through sensitive foot pads.The Nile River is widely recognised as the longest riverIt flows north for over six thousand six hundred kilometres through AfricaThe Sahara is the largest hot desert on EarthIt spans over nine million square kilometres across northern Africa
Tags: elephant, africa, mammal
The African bush elephant is the largest living land animal: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Adult males can reach weights of six tonnes and stand four metres tall. The figure is taken from Smithsonian, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a records & extremes fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Records & Extremes shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.
