African Elephant Calf

African Elephants are the largest members of the elephant family and thus the largest land animals. They have four toes on their front feet and five on their hind feet. African Elephants live in large herds which are divided into smaller families. The eldest and largest female is the matriarch and leads the others on the endless quest for food and water. Elephants spend up to sixteen hours a day searching for grass, branches, fruit and creeping plants. Elephants have a rugged but flexible hide, a long trunk and two ivory tusks. They use their amazingly moveable trunk to communicate with one another through touch and smell. Elephant calves are suckled for up to five years. Elephant cows stay with their mother until they are ready to bear young themselves and start their own family. Calves stay with their mother for up to twelve years until they leave to join a ''bachelor herd.''