Watch What Happens When Elephants Find Electric Fences in Their Path - A-Z Animals
When animals come up against a fence, some try to dig under it, and some may try to leap over it. Most will accept it as a barrier and turn around. Elephants, however, have a very different approach! This determined bull elephant knows exactly how to flatten this fence near his African habitat. Using precision movements of his tusks, he flattens the fence poles -taking the wires with them. This move would be impressive enough with a normal fence but when you discover that this fence is electric it blows your mind! The video notes let us know that he successfully flattened the fence and then stepped carefully over the live wires so that he could get to where he wanted to go. If this doesn’t prove just how clever elephants are, we don’t know what will!
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Where Do African Elephants Normally Live?
African elephants can be divided into savannah elephants and forest elephants. Savannah elephants live in East, Central, and Southern Africa. Meanwhile, forest elephants live in the Congo Basin and areas of West Africa.
When it comes to habitat, elephants are known as generalists which means that they can survive just about anywhere that has enough food and water for them. In general, the savannah elephants are found in lowland and montane forests as well as on floodplains and in woodlands and savannas. Forest elephants are found in semi-deciduous rainforests.
To support elephant populations a habitat must have plenty of food for them. Elephants have a diverse diet and are happy to consume more than 80 different species of plants. Their diet varies with season and by what is available in the area where they are living. However, their diet is always high in cellulose because they have a specialized digestive system to cope with this tough material. Horses and rhinos have a similar digestive system which consists of a long small intestine and a slow digestive rate.
Is This How Elephants Normally Behave?
Tusks serve as a tool to help elephants forage for food.
©iStock.com/Wayne Marinovich
Elephants have a home range that can extend up to 580 square miles depending on the quantity and quality of food available. They are curious and intelligent creatures who live in groups called herds. Elephant herds are led by an older female and consist of her offspring. The males leave the family group when they are in their teens and often lead a solitary life.
Tusks are one of their well-known physical characteristics. Elephants use their tusks for digging, stripping bark from trees, lifting things, and for defense. They also come in very handy for knocking down electric fences!
The photo featured at the top of this post is © Volodymyr Burdiak/Shutterstock.com
