March+Science+discovery+TE


 * March 1, 2002**


 * The elephant’s trunk is able to sense the size, shape and temperature of an object. An elephant uses its trunk to lift food and suck up water then pour it into its mouth.Elephants have large, thin ears.Elephant can swim using their trunk to breathe like a snorkel in deep water.An elephant’s trunk can grow to be about 2 meters long and can weigh up to 140 kg. Some scientists believe that an elephant’s trunk is made up of 100,000 muscles, but no bones.Elephants have no natural predators. However, lions will sometimes prey on young or weak elephants in the wild. The main risk to elephants is from humans through poaching and changes to their habitat.Elephants are the largest land-living mammal in the world.**

Facts
 * A male giraffe can weigh as much as a pick up truck! That’s about 1400 kilograms.****The hair that makes up a giraffes tail is about 10 times thicker than the average strand of human hair.It is possible to identify the sex of the giraffe from the horns on its head. Both males and females have horns but the females are smaller and covered with hair at the top. Male giraffes may have up to 3 additional horns.****Giraffes have bluish-purple tongues which are tough and covered in bristly hair to help them with eating the thorny Acacia trees.**