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Thanks. We always like weighty questions. To answer this one, we went to Britannica.com and searched on "elephant." That led us to a list of sites, magazines, related books, and individual Encyclopedia Britannica articles. We decided to check out the entry simply titled "elephant." We learned that the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) is the largest living land animal, weighing up to 7,500 kg (8 tons) and standing 3 to 4 meters (10 to 13 feet) at the shoulder. The Indian elephant (Elephas maximus) weighs about 5,500 kg (6 tons) with a shoulder height of 3 meters. The Indian elephant's ears are smaller than those of the African elephant. The Indian
elephant is native to the Indian subcontinent and southeastern Asia, while the African elephant is found in sub-Saharan Africa. Both species live in habitats ranging from thick jungle to savanna. They live in small family groups, although most bulls live in bachelor herds apart from the females (cows). The Indian elephant is considered an endangered species, and the African elephant is classified as threatened. To learn more about the plight of the elephants, visit some of the sites in the Yahoo! Elephants category. Learn about an Elephant Satellite Tracking Project in Malaysia, or adopt
an elephant and help save Cameroon's vanishing giants.
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