| The Elephant is the worlds largest living mammal. He can weigh up to
five tons, which is about as much as five cars. African Elephants can be
recognised by their large ears.
There are African and Indian Elephants. The one live in Africa and the other in India. Indian Elephants can be tamed and made to do hard work for men. Only very few African Elephants have been tamed, as they are too wild. Every year about twenty or thirty Elephants must be shot, because they have turned crop raiders, destroying fields, huts, even trampling people to death. A wild Elephant bull can easily crush a car, as though it was made of paper. Elephants in large areas of Africa are threatened by extinction, due to poaching for the Ivory that their Tusks are made of. Ivory poaching has been illegal for a long time, but as most Africans are extremely poor, that they often have nothing to eat, so they are prepared to kill an Elephant to sell the Ivory, which is worth a lot of money. |
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