Elephants are the world's largest living land mammals from the Elephantidae family. There are two main types: Elephas and Loxodonta. There are only three species of elephant still living today: African Bush, African Forest and Indian elephants.

A female elephant carries her young for 22 months before giving birth. A baby elephant can weigh as much as 260 pounds at birth. The average elephant lives anywhere from 50 to 70 years. African elephants can be found in 37 different countries whereas the Indian elephant is native to Asia.

The elephant's trunk is one of its most obvious characteristics and is comprised of the upper lip and nose. The end of the tip has two projections (one projection for Asian elephants) that the elephant utilizes like fingers to grasp and hold things. The elephant's trunk is though to possess over 40,000 individual muscles. Besides grasping and smelling things, the trunk is used to drink water.

Elephants are herbivores (plant eaters) with strong teeth for ripping and chewing plants. Most elephants use their trunks for ripping plants; only young sand frail elephants use their teeth. They prefer to eat grass, leaves and shoots. The tusks on elephants are also teeth and used for eating tree bark, digging for water and nutrients and moving plants and trees out of their path.

A full grown healthy elephant has no enemies due to its large size and strength. The real enemy of the elephant is humanity. The African elephant population continues to shrink because of the destruction of natural habitat and hunting for ivory. Despite the elephant's global status as a protected species, the trade in ivory still (as of 2010) still exists.