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In 2013, over 20,000 African elephants were killed for their ivory. The slaughter of African elephants is driven by the black market value of elephant ivory. The illicit trade in ivory is primarily in Asia where ivory sells for several thousands of dollars per kilogram. [8] Satao's tusks were estimated to weigh more than 100 pounds (45 kg) each.
Skeleton belonging to Ahmed on display at Nairobi National Museum. Ahmed (1919–1974) was a Kenyan elephant with unusually large tusks. [1]He spent some of his time in the area of Mount Marsabit, and was the first elephant to be protected under Kenyan presidential decree. [2]
The dominant, or "master" tusk, is typically more worn down, as it is shorter and blunter. For African elephants, tusks are present in both males and females and are around the same length in both sexes, reaching up to 300 cm (9 ft 10 in), [55] but those of males tend to be more massive. [56] In the Asian species, only the males have large tusks.
Elephants are one of the most sophisticated tool-using animals on the planet, and that’s thanks to both their big brains and the combination of both tusks and a trunk.
When looking at an African elephant and an Asian elephant side-by-side, you can really tell the differences in their head shapes and tasks. African elephants generally have much larger tusks than ...
Number of African elephants Men with African elephant tusks in Dar es Salaam, c. 1900 Both species are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, and poaching for the illegal ivory trade is a threat in several range countries as well.
In the wild, a large percentage of elephants experience a tusk fracture, although this is more prevalent in captivity. A tusk fracture of any sort usually results in serious infections, as the pulp is exposed to the elements. [23] The tusks erupt when they are 1–3 years old. [21]
Because elephants can live for 60 years in the wild, this leads to an incredible build-up of working knowledge. ... so this means that poaching is a huge threat to their survival as a species ...