About Asian Elephants... Elephants are the largest animals to live on land! African elephants can grow to heights of thirteen feet, while smaller Asian elephants can reach twelve feet. Both types of elephants live in forests and grasslands. Because of their huge size and weight, elephants actually help convert forests to grassy areas by trampling or eating vegetation. Elephants can eat a lot of plant matter - between 200 and 600 pounds each day - so their dietary habits make a big impact on their home turf. Elephants also shape their landscape by digging for water to drink and bathe. Bathing helps these huge creates keep cool, and observers often see elephants suck water through their trunks to shower themselves or their fellow elephants. An elephant's large ears also help it stay cool, as those big, wide surfaces help give off heat away from the elephant's body.

Meet the Elephant...Hello, and OOH, excuse me! "I do hate to be in the way, but at nearly nine feet tall and over three tons, I just can't help it.  It’s impossible for me to tiptoe through the clearing – I actually made this clearing myself, using my trunk to break down trees and vegetation. I'm a big animal, and that means I have a big impact on my ecosystem!

Let me show you what I mean. Ooh, sorry about that, didn't mean to break down your house. See this ditch? I dug it myself, looking for fresh drinking water! And I drink a lot of water - sometimes up to fifty gallons per day. Now, the other animals in this hot, dry part of these dry plains can use the watering hole I built. I tend to clear a path through shrubbery and vegetation every where I tread.  And ok...ok sometimes I tend to eat my way through, plants, grasses and leaves.  And the boss says I create pathways for smaller animals to navagate the terrain.  I'm a regular place maker.