The African elephant

The African elephant is much bigger than its Asian cousin. It weighs up to 7,000 kilograms, and it looks different, too—it's got very big ears. It moves the ears to stay cool in very hot weather. Elephants don't eat meat. They are vegetarians. They need to spend most of their time, about 18 hours a day, eating. But they can drink very quickly. It takes just a couple of minutes for an elephant to drink 200 liters of water—if it's thirsty!
    Most elephants live in groups. They have advanced communication systems. They can make many different kinds of noises, and some scientists believe they can laugh and cry. They definitely have very good memories. They can remember where they were born, and like people they are sad when a member of their family dies. Sadly, like the Asian elephant, the number of African elephants has fallen because people kill them to use their body parts. Today there are perhaps about half a million—a lot more than Asian elephants. But about a hundred years ago there were ten million.