App: 9.5cms long Interesting facts: - Weight: up to 7000 kg - Size: 4 m - Life expectancy: up to 70 years - Distribution: Africa - Colour: Grey There are two kinds of elephants, the Indian elephant and the African elephant. The Indian elephant is often called the Asian elephant. Compared to the African elephant, the Indian elephant has much smaller ears. The trunk is mainly composed of muscle and can be very dangerous. It serves as a weapon. Elephants also use their trunks for smelling and breathing. Because the neck is so short, an elephant can hardly reach the ground to take food or water in with his mouth so it uses its trunk instead. The elephant cannot drink through his trunk; instead, he draws the water up and then injects it into his mouth. He can fill his trunk with about 10 litres of water. Elephants only eat plants. Examples include hay, grass, leaves, tree bark, roots and fruits. Each day they eat about 170 kg of fresh plants. Drinking is also very important for elephants. They drink 100 litres of water per day.