Why do elephants have tusks? - is one of the videos from the series created by [ Ссылка ], elephant charity shop, where you can purchase cool elephant themed items while donating to an elephant rescue organization if you want to help elephants.
How much do elephants weigh? Are elephants endangered? Where do elephants come from? And what do they eat? Those are just some of the questions we will be covering here, because ELEPHANTS ARE AWESOME! Subscribe for our weekly videos if you are feeling the same way about this amazing animals and want to know more about them.
This video answering the question why do elephants have tusks?
An elephant’s tusks can be both a blessing and a curse. They give a magical feeling for those who observing the elephants and make them so different and special from all the other animals. Those also essential and handy when used for various tasks to provide elephant’s well-being. A curse because humans irrational strive for ivory has led to the disappearance of thousands of those magnificent animals. Though, in fact, nature currently takes care of this problem itself. And in heavily poached populations, the ratio of tuskless elephants increases. Scientists define the reason as a genetic mutation. They say elephants are losing their tusks as an evolutionary response to ruthless poachers hunting and killing ivory. Recent research at the Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda, demonstrated that 15% of female elephants and 9% of males in the park were born without tusks. In 1930 the figure for both male and female elephants was only 1%. But these magnificent animals initially were supposed to be born with tusks for a reason. So why do elephants have tusks?
Reason number#1. Elephant Passport
Normally for other mammals tusks are enlarged teeth, but in elephants, those are long incisors. Though they and no different from the teeth. One-third of the tusk, pulp cavity made up of tissue, blood, and nerves are hidden deep in the elephant’s head. The visible, ivory part made of dentine, covered with a layer of enamel. And there are no two tusks that are alike because elephant’s ivory is unique. Observed in cross-sections it reveals criss-cross lines, forming a series of diamond shapes. In fact, to identify individuals, researchers who trace the elephants will use the appearance of their tusks and ears. Another useful data they can pick up based on the tusks is elephant’s age. Tusks can grow up to seven inches a year, so as long as it hasn’t been broken, it can reveal the anima’s age comparing to other elephants of the same sex and species. Interesting to know that one of the largest tusks ever found was about 10 feet long and weighed over 200 pounds.
Reason number#2. Dealing with the environment
In African elephants, both sexes have tusks. In Asian elephants - only the males. Though sometimes females have mini-tusks, called “tushes”. Those are really small and have a little use. The reasoning behind that is that Asian elephants are more adept at using their feet and trunk than the African elephant, and so they may not use their tusks as often. On top of that, when living in tropical jungles, long tusks can be a disadvantage, limiting the ability to move around. One of the popular explanation, why female Asian elephants have no tusks, is that they don’t need to fight over mates and take care of getting lots of food in the jungle. So they are fine without it.
Reason number#3. Scare the enemy and get the food
So now you think if some elephants don’t even have tusks why do they need them at all? But the primary purpose of tusk evolutionary was to protection and food gathering. Principally tusks are a great weapon against potential predators like lions or tigers (although tigers will only ever attack young or juvenile elephants, but youngsters don’t have huge tusks yet, so someone should protect them!) or in fights against other elephants over the girls (the bigger the tusks the more interest of females). They are also used for moving massive things out of the way and to aid foraging and stripping bark. The tusks are made from calcium phosphate, that can also be found in rocks, so it’s really hard – and that let elephant get the food which will normally be out of reach for them. And it’s a big deal if to take into consideration the amount of the food that elephants need.
