Elephants are a huge and an amazing animal. They are very similar to humans in a lot of ways. Let us focus into elephants life cycle and see what some of the similarities and some of the differences are.
When we first look at elephants, we find that they live in fairly small groupings. The old females are the ones in charge. We also find that if the area they are in has plenty of food that they may have another group join them. When this kind of a situation occurs, the males will stick to associating with other males and the females will associate with the other females that are in the now larger group. Young teenagers do things very similar to this when you step back and think of it for a minute.
However, during a certain time frame the males will enter a period that is called "musth" and will release a fluid that is thicker than the one that is released normally. Musth is generally the time that reproduction occurs, both in the wild or in tamed environments.
After they have mated the female will carry the fetus for a period of no less than 18 months, many times this can extend to 22 month. Our world would surely be far less populated if we had to endure pregnancies of this length!
When it comes to the life cycle of an elephant, we learn that the female elephant is in a state of pregnancy for anywhere from 18 - 22 months. This is the longest of any mammal on earth. When they have the baby, it weighs over 200 lbs. The baby elephant will use their mouth to get milk from their mother, and continue to nurse for quite some time. The baby elephants can take a long time when it comes to weaning and often they are weaned off due to their mother being unable to tolerate the pokes from the tusks that they have developing.
As we keep looking at elephants life cycle we see that a female elephant is able to bear young for many years and are often still having babies as they approach 50 years of age. They are not able to get pregnant as often as humans though. They have an 18 months to 4 year time period that elapses between pregnancies. We do not have to wait anywhere near that length of time.
As an elephant ages they also are found to develop some of the diseases that are common to humans as they get older. Arthritis and cardiovascular ailments are two in particular that they can find to have as they age. But as we continue through elephants life cycle we see that this does not hinder the length of time that they live. Many of them live until they are at least 70 years old. There are some that die earlier, but a lot of this could be prevented as many of them are killed by illegal poaching that is done in the areas that they live.
When we first look at elephants, we find that they live in fairly small groupings. The old females are the ones in charge. We also find that if the area they are in has plenty of food that they may have another group join them. When this kind of a situation occurs, the males will stick to associating with other males and the females will associate with the other females that are in the now larger group. Young teenagers do things very similar to this when you step back and think of it for a minute.
However, during a certain time frame the males will enter a period that is called "musth" and will release a fluid that is thicker than the one that is released normally. Musth is generally the time that reproduction occurs, both in the wild or in tamed environments.
After they have mated the female will carry the fetus for a period of no less than 18 months, many times this can extend to 22 month. Our world would surely be far less populated if we had to endure pregnancies of this length!
When it comes to the life cycle of an elephant, we learn that the female elephant is in a state of pregnancy for anywhere from 18 - 22 months. This is the longest of any mammal on earth. When they have the baby, it weighs over 200 lbs. The baby elephant will use their mouth to get milk from their mother, and continue to nurse for quite some time. The baby elephants can take a long time when it comes to weaning and often they are weaned off due to their mother being unable to tolerate the pokes from the tusks that they have developing.
As we keep looking at elephants life cycle we see that a female elephant is able to bear young for many years and are often still having babies as they approach 50 years of age. They are not able to get pregnant as often as humans though. They have an 18 months to 4 year time period that elapses between pregnancies. We do not have to wait anywhere near that length of time.
As an elephant ages they also are found to develop some of the diseases that are common to humans as they get older. Arthritis and cardiovascular ailments are two in particular that they can find to have as they age. But as we continue through elephants life cycle we see that this does not hinder the length of time that they live. Many of them live until they are at least 70 years old. There are some that die earlier, but a lot of this could be prevented as many of them are killed by illegal poaching that is done in the areas that they live.
About the Author:
I have grown up in Africa and been watching Elephants for nearly 50 years and am intrigued by their life cycle.
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