Classroom lesson 路 Wildlife馃嚠馃嚦 India

Indian elephants

Smaller ears and a sweeter face than their African cousins

An Indian elephant with curled tusks standing among green forest plants

Photo 路 Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

Indian elephants are one of the most loved animals in India. They live in the forests across the country, especially in the south and north-east. They are slightly smaller than African elephants, with smaller, rounder ears - and a forehead with two little bumps on top.

Tell me more

An Indian elephant weighs around 4,000 kilograms - that's the weight of a small lorry. They eat for about 16 hours a day. They have to: a single elephant gets through up to 150 kilograms of grass, leaves, fruit and bark every single day. That's like eating 600 apples for breakfast and then doing it again at lunch.

Their trunks are amazing tools. An elephant uses its trunk to drink (it can suck up 8 litres of water at once), to pick a single leaf from a tree, to greet a friend by touching trunks, and even as a snorkel when it swims across a river. Indian elephants love water - they will splash around and 'shower' themselves for hours.

Indian elephants live in family groups led by an older female - the matriarch. She remembers where to find water in dry months, which routes are safest, and which other families are friends. Babies are looked after by all the females together. An elephant calf walks just hours after being born and stays close to mum for years.

In many parts of India, elephants have been part of human life for thousands of years. They appear in stories, in art, and in temple parades wearing bright fabrics. Today, India works hard to protect them - many forests have special 'elephant corridors' so the herds can walk safely between protected areas.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01If you had to eat for 16 hours a day, what would you do for the other 8?
  2. 02Why might it help a family of elephants to be led by the oldest one?
  3. 03Why might it matter to leave 'corridors' between protected forests for animals to walk through?
Try this

Classroom activity

Bring scales to school (or use the school office's). Find out how much the class weighs all together. Now compare it to one elephant (~4,000 kg). How many classes of children would equal one elephant? Then look up African vs. Indian elephant ears - draw both side by side.