Dishwasher

The primary benefit of this concept is the fact that it uses no water directly. Purportedly drunk elephants raided yet another Indian village again on December 2002 [5]. Supercritical carbon dioxide has previously been used in dry cleaning. An attack on another Indian village occurred in October 1999, and again locals believed the reason was drunkenness, but the theory was not widely accepted [4]. The grease is filtered from the carbon dioxide and removed from the system. Although locals reported that nearby elephants had recently been observed drinking beer which rendered them "unpredictable", officials considered it the least likely explanation for the attack [3]. It also demonstrates the physical properties of a liquid, hence the solvent effectiveness, and a gas, which fills its container and thus does not require as much mechanical agitation. In December 1998, a herd of elephants overran a village in India.

Pressurized carbon dioxide behaves like a nonpolar solvent, which can effectively remove grease. At least a few elephants have been suspected to be drunk during their attacks. Its primary feature was the use of supercritical carbon dioxide in place of water in closed-loop operation. Since male elephants are ostracized from their herds when they become sexually mature, their sex hormones can lead to aggressive behaviour. A team of students from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia won top honors in the 2004 Electrolux Design Laboratory competition for their Rockpool waterless dishwasher design. There is also one other cause of elephant rage that is not the result of human activity. [1] The study does not address costs associated with the manufacture and disposal of dishwashers. They cite the following reasons:.

At least one privately funded, non-peer-reviewed study concludes that automatic dishwashers use less water than even the most efficient hand-washers, while relative energy use depends on hand-washing technique. Humans have mistreated elephants for the past century, and they are suffering from a kind of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Comparing the efficiency of automatic dishwashers and hand-washing of dishes is difficult because hand-washing techniques vary drastically by individual. So many elephants have been killed just because of human cruelty and greed. One of the most well know brands of commercial dishwasher is Hobart.[www.hobartcorp.com]. In the last ten minutes of the episode Explorer: Elephant Rage, the scientists formed this theory:. There are many types of commercial dishwashers including undercounter, single tank, conveyor, flight type, and carousel machines. To sum up the episode, scientists discover that elephants kill 300-400 humans per year, and they set out to find why.

Hot water sanitizing requires a rinse temperature of at least 180 °F (80 °C). The National Geographic Society¹ aired a program describing a disturbing trend of elephants killing humans on the National Geographic Channel on Sunday, June 5, 2005. NSF (http://www.nsf.org/business/food_equipment/standards.asp?program=FoodEqu) sets the standards for wash and rinse time along with proper water temperature for chemical or hot water sanitizing methods. A common adage is that "Elephants never forget", and later scientific evidence seems to support they have good memories. Commercial machines are capable of washing a rack of dishes in just a few minutes or less using a wash water temp of usually 120 to 140 °F (50 to 60 °C) for a low temperature sanitizing machine or 150 minimum wash temp for a hot water sanitizing machine. To break free all the elephant has to do is erase that limiting thought for in fact he is free to go.". Much larger heavy-duty dishwashers with a high output are available for use in catering and commerical establishments where a large number of dishes are to be washed and sanitized. Abiding to this conditioning the elephant is trapped for life.

The other method is a chemical sanitisation method, that many commercial low temperature machines use, using chlorine injected in the final rinse water. Yet the trainer continues to tie the elephant to the tree with the same rope he’s always used, for the simple reason that the elephant has the concept in his mind that the rope is stronger than him. One is to use hot water sanitising, using final rinse water at a temperature of at least 83 °C (180 °F). A couple of years pass and the elephant is now an adult weighing several tons. Commercial dishwashers can use one of two types of sanitisation methods. Learning that, the elephant doesn’t try to escape and accepts his confinement. Dishwashers (even commercial ones used in restaurants) do not do this. The young elephant tries his hardest to escape, he pulls and wriggles and jumps and crawls yet the rope just tightens and to the tree it remains tied.

Domestic dishwashers do not sterilise the utensils, as proper sterilisation requires autoclaving at 121 °C with pressurised wet steam for at least 15 minutes. "From when an elephant is a baby they tie him for certain periods with a rope to a tree. In addition, the lead in the crystal glass can be converted into a soluble form, which is not good for the health of subsequent users. The following is taken from a newsletter. Lead crystal should not be cleaned in a dishwasher as the corrosive effect of dishwasher detergent is high on such types of glass - that is, it will quickly go 'cloudy'. It is called the "elephant trap". This may be caused by any or all of the below processes, only one of which is reversible:. Another more effective method is practiced in the Indian Subcontinent which is far less physical and brutal and more mental.

Glassware that is washed by dishwashing machines often develops a white haze on the surface over time. Corea's elephants are also used to entertain tourists and haul logs. Inexpensive powders sometimes actually contain sand, which can be verified by dissolving the powder in boiling water and then passing the solution through a coffee filter; these detergents should be avoided to prevent wear of the dishes and the dishwasher. African elephants are now being used for (photo) safaris. Intuition suggests that a powder will provide a better scrubbing action due to a soft media sandblasting effect, though liquid detergents have marketed themselves as premium products. Because of their more sensitive temperaments, they require different training methods than Asian elephants and must be trained from infancy hence Corea worked with orphaned elephants. Dishwasher detergents are strongly alkaline (basic). African elephants are more temperamental than Asian elephants, but are easier to train.

it may also contain:. In Botswana, Uttum Corea has been working with African elephants and has several young tame elephants near Gaborone. Dishwashing detergent contains:. African elephants have long been reputed to not be domesticable, but some entrepreneurs have succeeded by bringing Asian mahouts from Sri Lanka to Africa. Sound dampening is the primary factor that determines the cost of a standard built-in dishwasher. Elephants have also been used as mounts for safari-type hunting, especially Indian shikar (mainly on tigers), and as ceremonial mounts for royal and religious occasions, whilst Asian elephants have been used for transport and entertainment, and are common to circuses around the world. Thus, a QuietPartner 1 or QuietGuard 2 dishwasher, despite the "Quiet" designation, may not actually be quiet at all. Throughout Siam, India, and most of South Asia elephants were used in the military for heavy labor, especially for uprooting trees and moving logs, and were also commonly used as executioners to crush the condemned underfoot.

Higher numbers usually indicate higher sound dampening and thus less noise output. A large elephant in full charge could cause tremendous damage to infantry, and cavalry horses would be afraid of them (see Battle of Hydaspes). QuietGuard (Kenmore), QuietPartner (Whirlpool), Whisper Package (Maytag), followed by a number. The Carthaginian general Hannibal took elephants across the Alps when he was fighting the Romans, but brought too few elephants to be of much military use, although his horse cavalry was quite successful; he probably used a now-extinct third African (sub)species, the North African (Forest) elephant, smaller than its two southern cousins, and presumably easier to domesticate. Manufacturers generally use their own nomenclature with sound dampening, i.e. This use was adopted by Hellenistic armies after Alexander the Great experienced their worth against king Poros, notably in the Ptolemaic and Seleucid diadoch empires. Undampened, low-end dishwashers generally output noise levels of anywhere from 65-70 decibels. War elephants were used by armies in the Indian sub-continent, and later by the Persian empire.

Using blankets, panels, and sound-absorbing materials in various configurations, dishwashers can achieve sound dampening levels down to 44 decibels or so. It is generally more economical to capture wild young elephants and tame them than breeding them in captivity. However, pressure switches (some dishwashers use a pressure switch and flow meter) are not required in most microprocessor controlled dishwashers as they use the motor and sometimes a rotational position sensor to sense the resistance of water, when it senses there is no cavitation it knows it has the optimal amount of water. Therefore elephants used by humans have typically been female, war elephants being an exception, however: as female elephants in battle will run from a male, only males could be used in war. In such dishwashers the electromechanical rotary switch often used to control the washing cycle is replaced by a microprocessor but most sensors and valves are still required to be present. However, elephants have never been truly domesticated: the male elephant in his periodic condition of musth is dangerous and difficult to control. This can save water and energy if the user runs a partial load. Seals found in the Indus Valley suggest that the elephant was first domesticated in ancient India.

Many newer dishwashers feature microprocessor-controlled, sensor-assisted wash cycles that adjust the wash duration to the quantity of dirty dishes (sensed by changes in water temperature) or the amount of dirt in the rinse water (sensed chemically/optically). Elephants have been working animals used in various capacities by humans. Pre-rinsing under a running tap beforehand simply wastes water. [2]. Pre-rinsing is not necessary even without integrated waste disposal units - all that is required is for the larger items of food waste to be removed before placing in the dishwasher. Without tusks, elephant behavior could change dramatically. One manufacturer that is known for omitting hard food disposals is Bosch, a German brand; however, Bosch does so in order to reduce noise. Elephants use their tusks to root around in the ground for necessary minerals, tear apart vegetation, and spar with one another for mating rights.

Mid-to-higher end North American dishwashers often come with hard food disposal units, which behave like miniature garbage (waste) disposal units that eliminate large pieces of food waste from the wash water. The effect of tuskless elephants on the environment, and on the elephants themselves, could be dramatic. Older models used a baked enamel on steel and are prone to chipping and erosion; chips in the baked enamel finish must be cleaned of all dirt and corrosion then patched with a special compound or even a good quality two-part epoxy. [1] It is possible, if unlikely, that continued selection pressure could bring about a complete absence of tusks in African elephants, a development normally requiring thousands of years of evolution. They also come at a price premium. Tusklessness, once a very rare genetic abnormality, has become a widespread hereditary trait. Stainless steel tubs resist hard water, provide better sound dampening, and preserve heat to dry dishes faster. The propagation of the absent-tusk gene has resulted in the birth of large numbers of tuskless elephants, now approaching 30% in some populations (compare with a rate of about 1% in 1930).

The inside of a dishwasher, called the tub, can be composed of plastic or stainless steel. African ivory hunters, by killing only tusked elephants, have given a much larger chance of mating to elephants with small tusks or no tusks at all. Dishwashers may come in standard or tall tub designs; standard tub dishwashers have a service kickplate beneath the dishwasher door that allows for simpler maintenance and installation, but tall tub dishwashers have approximately 20% more capacity and better sound dampening from having a continuous front door. The harvest of elephants, both legal and illegal, has had some unexpected consequences on elephant anatomy as well. Portable dishwashers exist in 45 and 60 cm (Europe) 18 and 24 inch (US) widths, with castors and attached countertops. As scientists learn more about nature and the environment, it becomes very clear that these parks may be the elephant's last hope against the rapidly changing world around them. Dishwashers that are installed into standard kitchen cabinets have a standard width and depth of 60 cm (Europe) or 24 inches (US), and most dishwashers must be installed into a hole a mininum of 86 cm (Europe) or 34 inches (US) tall. Today there are still many problems associated with these parks and reserves, but there is now little question as to whether or not they are necessary.

Dishes or plates of irregular sizes may not fit properly in a dishwasher's cleaning compartment, so it is advisable to check for compatibility before buying a dishwasher. When confined to small territories, elephants can inflict an enormous amount of damge to the local landscapes. The capacity of a dishwasher according to international standards is measured in standard place settings. The more often an elephant wandered off its reserve, the more trouble it got into, and the more chance it had of being shot by an angry farmer. Adoption was greatest at first in commercial environments, but by the 1970s dishwashers had become commonplace in domestic situations. This did little to belie their image as a crop-raiding pest. Models installed with permanent plumbing arrived in 1920s, and electric drying elements were added in 1940. Some animals died as a result, while some, like the elephants, just trampled through the fences.

She never washed dishes herself and only invented the dishwasher as her servants were chipping her fine china. Once a fence was erected, many animals found themselves cut off from their winter feeding grounds or spring breeding areas. Cochrane was quite wealthy and was the granddaughter of John Fitch, the inventor of the steam boat. however, when most parks were created, the boundaries were drawn at the man-made borders of individual countries. Modern dishwashers are descended from the 1886 invention of Josephine Cochrane, also hand-powered, which she unveiled at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. For example, elephants range through a wide tract of land with little regard for national borders. The first reports of a mechanical dishwashing device are of an 1850 patent by Joel Houghton of a hand-powered device. Of course, there were many problems in establishing these reserves.

Some dishwashers also contain a heating element to achieve fast drying of the dishes. It was to be the first of many. The dishwasher therefore is mainly a device for spraying water on the dishes - first detergent-added water for cleaning purposes, then clean water (though sometimes with a rinsing aid added) to remove the detergent residue. It was deproclaimed and reproclaimed several times before it was renamed and granted national park status in 1926. Unlike manual dishwashing, which relies largely on mechanical action to remove soiling, mechanical dishwashers use the circulation of quite hot (55-65 degrees Celsius or 130-150 degrees Fahrenheit) water (usually, but not always heated or brought up to temperature by an element) and very strong detergents (most far too alkaline for habitual exposure to the skin) to achieve its cleaning effect. Kruger National Park in South Africa first became a reserve against great opposition in 1898 (then Sabi Reserve). . Africa's first official reserve eventually became one of the world's most famous and successful national parks.

They are found in restaurants and also in many kitchens of homes. The increased number of herbivores ravage the local trees, shrubs, and grasses. A dishwasher is a mechanical device for cleaning food utensils for preparation, keeping, serving and eating and drinking. As large predators are hunted, the local small grazer populations (the elephant's food competitors) find themselves on the rise. The latter usage is discussed in this article. An elephant needs an average of three hundred pounds of vegetation a day to survive. The term dishwasher can represent either a person who washes (cleans) dishes (a term commonly used in the food service industry) or a machine that performs a similar function. They cannot hide, and it takes many years for an elephant to grow and reproduce.

washing dishes by hand. Larger, long-lived, slow-breeding animals, like the elephant, are more susceptible to overhunting, than other animals. Study of dishwashers vs. As forests are reduced to small pockets, elephants become part of the problem, quickly destroying all the vegetation in an area, eliminating all their resources. http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2005/01/30/story1860.asp. Elephants need massive tracts of land because, much like the slash-and-burn farmers, they are used to crashing through the forest, tearing down trees and shrubs for food and then cycling back later on, when the area has regrown. http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1997/7/97.07.05.x.html. Floods and massive erosion are common results of deforestation.

http://www.scienceblog.com/community/older/2003/F/20033788.html. The trees are responsible for anchoring soil and absorbing water runoff. http://www.newi.ac.uk/buckleyc/materials.htm#Glass. As larger patches of forest disappear, the ecosystem is affected in profound ways. http://www.ccspa.org/conseducation/SDAC_autodish.html. Lacking the massive tusks of its African cousins, the Asian elephant's demise can be attributed mostly to loss of its habitat. http://www2.whirlpool.com/html/homelife/cookin/cookdw5.htm. Another threat to elephant's survival in general is the ongoing cultivation of their habitats with increasing risk of conflicts of interest with human cohabitants.

Physical abrasion
- Glassware placed such that it is physically touching can abrade and produce a milky surface. The threat to the African elephant presented by the ivory trade is unique to the species. Sodium carbonate solution is alkaline and leaches out SiO₂ from the glass. Elephants' foraging activities help to maintain the areas in which they live:. Sodium bicarbonate decomposes to sodium carbonate (by losing CO₂) in the hot final rinse. During this season, known as musth, a bull will fight with almost any other male it encounters, and it will spend most of its time hovering around the female herds, trying to find a receptive mate. The water softener replaces calcium with sodium. However, during the breeding season, the battles can get extremely aggressive, and the occasional elephant is injured.

bicarbonate) hardness and the water softener is used. Ordinarily, the smaller, younger, and less confident animal will back off before any real damage can be done. Etching occurs in the final (hot) rinse if the water supply has a high temporary (i.e. Most of the bouts are in the form of aggressive displays and bluffs. Silicate filming/etching/accelerated crack corrosion
- Silicate in the detergent protects glass from etching but only during the wash cycle - it is rinsed away after the wash. The dominance battles between males can look very fierce, but typically they inflict very little injury. The resin may have stopped working because it has be poisoned by iron or manganese salts in the supply water. It is usually the older bulls, forty to fifty years old, that do most of the breeding.

The dishwasher should either be recharged with salt, adjusted appropriately for the hardness of the supply water - or possibly this is a symptom of failure of the ion exchange resin in the water softener (which is one of the more expensive components). The less dominant ones must wait their turn. It can be removed by cleaning with vinegar or lemon juice, or a proprietary limescale removal agent. Only the most dominant males will be permitted to breed with cycling females. Limescale deposit
- If the dishwasher has run out of the salt that recharges the ion exchange resin that softens the water, and the water supply is 'hard', limescale deposits can appear on all items, but are especially visible on glassware. The males spend much more time than the females fighting for dominance with each other. Sand (inexpensive powdered detergents). These groups are called bachelor herds.

Gelling agents (in liquid/gel based detergents). While males do live primarily solitary, lives, they will occasionally form loose associations with other males. Starches (in tablet based detergents). Eventually, days become weeks, and somewhere around the age of fourteen, the mature male, or bull, sets out from his natal group for good. Anti-caking agents (in granular detergent). As he gets older, he begins to spend more time at the edge of the herd, gradually going off on his own for hours or days at a time. Perfumes. The life of the adult male is very different.

Additives to slow down the removal of glaze & patterns from glazed ceramics. They remain very aware of which local herds are relatives and which are not. Anti-foaming agents
- Used as foam decreases the effectiveness of the washing action. When a group gets too big, a few of the elder daughters will break off and form their own small group. Anti-corrosion agents
- Often sodium silicate, prevents corrosion of dishwasher components. Most immediate family groups range from five to fifteen adults, as well as a number of immature males and females. Enzymes
- Breaks up and solublises protein-based food deposits, and possibly oil, lipid and fat deposits. In addition to encountering the local males that live on the fringes of one or more groups, the female's life also involves interaction with other families, clans, and subpopulations.

Non-ionic surfactants
- Lowers the surface tension of the water, emulsifies oil, lipid and fat food deposits, prevents droplet spotting on drying. The social circle of the female elephant does not end with the small family unit. Oxygen-based bleaching agents
- Breaks up and bleaches organic deposits. Adult males, on the other hand, live mostly solitary lives. Phosphates
- Solublises calcium and magnesium ions to prevent 'hard-water' type limescale deposits. These groups are led by the eldest female, or matriarch. Whirlpool. the females spend their entire lives in tightly knit family groups made up of mothers, daughters, sisters, and aunts.

Manufactured by either Whirlpool Corporation or Frigidaire. The social lives of male and female elephants are very different. Kenmore. Elephants live in a very structured social order. Frigidaire. 60% of that food leaves the elephant's body undigested. Whirlpool, featuring plastic tubs, and relocatable in-door utensil racks. An adult elephant can consume 300 to 600 pounds (140 to 270 kg) of food a day.

Maytag, featuring plastic and stainless steel tubs, tiered racks, and numerous additional side racks. Because elephants only digest 40% of what they eat, they have to make up for their digestive system's lack of efficiency in volume. Manufactured by Whirlpool Corporation. Their diet is at least 50% grasses, supplemented with leaves, twigs, bark, roots, and small amounts of fruits, seeds and flowers. Kenmore, featuring plastic tubs and hard food disposals. Elephants are herbivores, spending 16 hours a day collecting plant food. Manufactured by AMAG. There are unconfirmed rumours of three other hybrid elephants born in zoos or circuses, all of were said to have been deformed and did not survive.

Low water and energy consumtion. It is preserved as a mounted specimen at the British Natural History Museum, London. ASKO, featuring stainless steel tubs and self-cleaning filtration. Sadly the calf died of infection 12 days later. Manufactured by Maytag Corporation. The body was African in type, but had an Asian-type centre hump and an African-type rear hump. Jenn-Air. The forehead was sloping with one dome and two smaller domes behind it.

Fisher and Paykel. The wrinkled trunk was like an African elephant. GE Profile. "Motty", the resulting hybrid male calf, had an African elephant's cheek, ears (large with pointed lobes) and legs (longer and slimmer), but the toenail numbers, (5 front, 4 hind) and the single trunk finger of an Asian elephant. GE Monogram. The pair had mated several times, but pregnancy was believed to be impossible. Manufactured by Whirlpool Corporation. Although hybrids between different animal genera are usually impossible, in 1978, an Asian elephant cow gave birth to a hybrid calf sired by an African elephant bull (the old terms are used here as this pre-dates current classifications).

Kenmore Elite, featuring adjustable upper racks, stainless steel tubs, and TurboZone (a bank of jets in the back of the dishwasher designed especially for potscrubbing). Many captive African elephants are probably generic African elephants as the recognition of separate species has occurred relatively recently. Bosch, featuring stainless steel tubs and self-cleaning filtration. The Forest elephant and the Savannah elephant can hybridise successfully, though their preference for different terrains reduces the opportunities to hybridise. Manufactured by Whirlpool Corporation. There's also a potential danger in that if the forest elephant isn't explicitly listed as an endangered species, poachers and smugglers might thus be able to evade the law forbidding trade in endangered animals and their body parts. KitchenAid, featuring custom panel kits, hard food disposals, and stainless steel tubs. This reclassification has important implications for conservation, because it means where there were thought to be two small populations of a single endangered species, there may in fact be two separate species, each of which is even more severely endangered.

There are two populations of African elephants, Savannah and Forest, and recent genetic studies have led to a reclassification of these as separate species, the forest population now being called Loxodonta cyclotis, and the Savannah (or Bush) population termed Loxodonta africana. African elephants have a dipped back, smooth forehead and two "fingers" at the tip of their trunks, as compared with the Asian species which have an arched back, two humps on the forehead and have only one "finger" at the tip of their trunks. Male and female African elephants have long tusks, while male and female Asian Elephants have shorter tusks, with tusks in females being almost non-existent. African elephants tend to be larger than the Asian species (up to 4 m high and 7500 kg) and have bigger ears.

It has long been known that the African and Asian elephants are separate species. In the past, there was a much wider variety of elephant genera, including the mammoths, stegodons and deinotheria. Modern elephants have retained this ability and are known to swim in that manner for up to 6 hours and 50 km. One theory suggests that these animals spent most of their time under water, using their trunks like snorkels for breathing.

In the distant past, members of the hyrax family grew to large sizes, and it seems likely that the common ancestor of all three modern families was some kind of amphibious hyracoid. Although the fossil evidence is uncertain, some scientists believe there is genetic evidence that the elephant family shares distant ancestry with the Sirenians (sea cows) and the hyraxes. Walking at a normal pace an elephant covers about 2 to 4 miles an hour (3 to 6 km/h) but they can reach 24 miles an hour (40 km/h) at full speed. Joyce Poole, a well-known elephant researcher, has theorized that the males will fan their ears in an effort to help propel this "elephant cologne" great distances.

During the breeding season, males give off an odor from a gland located behind their eyes. If an elephant wants to intimidate a predator or rival, it will spread its ears out wide to make itself look more massive and imposing. The ears are also used in certain displays of aggression and during the males' mating period. Asians live farther north, in slightly cooler climates, and thus have smaller ears.

Therefore, they have bigger ears. Africans originated and stayed near the equator, where it is warmer. Differences in the ear sizes of African and Asian elephants can be explained, in part, by their geographical distribution. The hot blood entering the ears can be cooled as much as ten degrees Fahrenheit before returning to the body.

This breeze cools the surface blood vessels, and then the cooler blood gets circulated to the rest of the animal's body. On hot days, elephants will flap their ears constantly, creating a slight breeze. Elephant ears are made of a very thin layer of skin stretched over cartilage and a rich network of blood vessels. The large flapping ears of an elephant are also very important for temperature regulation.

Since wild elephants live in very hot climates, they must have other means of getting rid of excess heat.The elephants skin is very delicate. Elephants have even been observed lifting up their legs to expose the soles of their feet, presumably in an effort to expose more skin to the air. The ratio of an elephant's mass to the surface area of its skin is many times that of a human. They have a very difficult time releasing heat through the skin because, in proportion to their body size, they have very little of it.

Elephants spend every day fighting an uphill battle to stay cool. Wallowing also aids the skin in regulating body temperatures. As elephants are limited to smaller and smaller areas, there is less water available, and local herds will often come too close over the right to use these limited resources. After bathing, the elephant will usually use its trunk to blow dirt on its body to help dry and bake on its new protective coat.

Without regular mud baths to protect it from burning, as well as from insect bites and moisture loss, an elephant's skin would suffer serious damage. Though tough, an elephant's skin is very sensitive. Not only is it important for socialization, but the mud acts as a sunscreen, protecting their skin from harsh ultraviolet radiation. Wallowing is actually a very important behaviour in elephant society.

Both species of elephants are typically grayish in colour, but the Africans very often appear brown or reddish from wallowing in mud holes of coloured soil. As they get older, this hair darkens and becomes more sparse, but it will always remain on their heads and tails. Asian calves are usually covered with a thick coat of brownish red fuzz. This is most noticeable in the young.

Normally, the skin of an Asian is covered with more hair than its African counterpart. However, the skin around the mouth and inside of the ear is paper thin. An elephant's skin is extremely tough around most parts of its body. Another name for an elephant is pachyderm, which means "thick skin".

However, as more habitat is destroyed, the elephants' living space becomes smaller and smaller; the elderly no longer have the opportunity to roam in search of more appropriate food and will, consequently, die of starvation at an earlier age. Eventually, when the final teeth fall out, the animal will be unable to eat and will die. Very elderly elephants often spend their final years exclusively in marshy areas where they can feed on soft wet grasses. When an elephant becomes very old, the last set of teeth become brittle, and it must rely on softer foods to chew.

New teeth grow in at the back of the mouth, pushing older teeth toward the front, where they become brittle and fall out, making room for more teeth. Instead, they have a horizontal progression, like a conveyor belt. The teeth don't emerge from the jaws vertically like humans' do with new teeth replacing old ones from above or below. After one year the tusks are permanent, but the other teeth are replaced six times in an elephant's life.

Unlike most mammals, which grow baby teeth and then replace them with a permanent set of adult teeth, elephants have cycles of tooth rotation throughout their entire life. Over their lives they have 26 teeth, including two upper incisors (tusks), 12 premolars, and 12 molars. Elephants' teeth are very different from those of most other mammals. The desire for elephant ivory has been one of the major factors in the dramatic decline of the world's elephant population.

As a piece of living tissue, it is relatively soft (compared with other minerals such as rock), and the tusk, also known as ivory, is strongly favoured by artisans for its carvability. the tusk of both species is mostly made of calcium and phosphate. Asian males can have tusks as long as the much larger Africans, but they are usually much slimmer and lighter (the heaviest recorded was only 86 pounds). Female Asians have tusks which are very small or absent altogether.

In the Asian species, only the males have large tusks. Both male and female African elephants have large, impressive tusks that can reach over ten feet in length and weigh over two hundred pounds. The dominant tusk, called the master tusk, is generally shorter and more rounded at the tip from wear. Like humans who are typically right- or left-handed, elephants are usually right- or left-tusked.

In addition, they are used for marking trees to establish territory and occasionally as weapons. They are used primarily to dig for water, salt, and roots; to debark trees, in order to get at the tasty pulp inside; and to move downed trees and branches when clearing a path. Tusks are indispensable to an elephant. An adult male's tusks will grow about seven inches a year.

The tusks of an elephant are upper incisors that are continuously growing. Raising the trunk up in the air and swiveling it from side to side, like a periscope, it can determine the location of friends, enemies, and food sources. An elephant also relies on its trunk for its highly developed sense of smell. Elephants can defend themselves very well by flailing their trunk at unwanted intruders or by grasping and flinging them.

They also use them while play-wrestling, caressing during courtship, and for dominance displays - a raised trunk can be a warning or threat, while a lowered trunk can be a sign of submission. Familiar elephants will greet each other by entwining their trunks, much like a handshake. This appendage also plays a key role in many social interactions. On top of this watery coating, the animal will then spray dirt and mud, which act as a protective sunscreen.

Elephants also inhale water to spray on their body during bathing. Elephants suck water up into the trunk (up to fifteen quarts [14.2 liters] at a time) and then blow it into their mouth. The trunk is also used for drinking. If the desired food item is too high up, the elephant will wrap its trunk around the tree or branch and shake its food loose or sometimes simply knock the tree down altogether.

They will graze on grass or reach up into trees to grasp leaves, fruit, or entire branches. However, except for the very young or infirm, elephants always use their trunks to tear up their food and then place it in their mouth. Most herbivores (plant eaters, like the elephant) are adapted with teeth for cutting and tearing off plant materials. According to biologists, the elephant's trunk is said to have over forty thousand individual muscles in it, making it sensitive enough to pick up a single blade of grass, yet strong enough to rip the branches off a tree.

To facilitate this, African elephants are equipped with two fingerlike projections at the tip of their trunk, while Asians have only one. The trunk is basically used to manipulate objects. It is a fusion of the nose and upper lip, elongated and specialized to become the elephant's most important and versatile appendage. The proboscis, or trunk, is perhaps the elephant's most distinctive feature.

So, the more allomothers, the better the calf's chances of survival. Providing a calf with nutritious milk means the mother has to eat more nutritious food herself. The more allomothers a baby has, the more free time its mother has to feed herself. They walk with the young as the herd travels, helping the calves along if they fall or get stuck in the mud.

According to Cynthia Moss, a well-known researcher, these allomothes will help in all aspects of raising the calf. After the initial excitement dies down, the mother will usually select several full-time baby-sitters, or "allomothers", from her group. The baby is born nearly blind and at first relies, almost completely, on its trunk to discover the world around it. All the adults and most of the other young will gather around the newborn, touching and caressing it with their trunks.

In fact, a new calf is usually the center of attention for all herd members. Since everyone in these herds is related, there is never a shortage of baby-sitters. All members of the tightly knit female group participate in the care and protection of the young. Today, however, the pressures humans have put on the wild elephant populations, from poaching to habitat destruction, mean that the elderly often die at a younger age, leaving fewer teachers for the young.

The ability to pass on information and knowledge to their young has always been a major asset in the elephant's struggle to survive. Instead, they must rely on their elders to teach them the things they need to know. They are born with fewer survival instincts than many other animals. Elephants have a very long childhood.

and stand over 2½ feet tall. After a twenty-two-month pregnancy, the mother will give birth to a calf that will weigh about 250 lbs. In this way, they are assuring that their offspring will have the best possible chance of survival. Females want to breed with the bigger, stronger, and, most importantly, older males.

The word fitness, in an ecological sense, means the animal best suited to survive in its environment and pass on its genes. A female will usually be ready to breed around the age of thirteen, at which time she will seek out the most "fit" male to mate with. Elephant social life, in many ways, revolves around breeding and raising of the calves. An enormous animal nonetheless, it is considerably smaller than its other Asian (and African) cousins and exists only on the island of Sumatra, usually in forested regions and partially wooded habitats.

Mature Sumatrans will usually only measure about 10 feet at the shoulder and weigh less than nine thousand pounds. It is very light gray and has less depigmentation than the other Asians, with pink spots only on the ears. Population estimates for this group range from 33,000 to 53,000 individuals. The smallest of all the elephants is the Sumatran Asian elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus).

It prefers forested areas and transitional zones, between forests and grasslands, where greater food variety is available. The mainland Asian can be found in 12 Asian countries, from india to Indonesia. Large males will ordinarily weigh only about 11,000 pounds but are as tall as the Sri Lankan. Numbering approximately 36,000, these elephants are lighter gray in colour, with depigmentation only on the ears and trunk.

Another subspecies, the mainland Asian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) makes up the bulk of the Asian elephant population. This program plays a large role to protect the Sri Lankan Elephant from extinction. There is an Orphanage for Elephants in Pinnawala Sri Lanka, which gives shelter to disabled, injured Elephants. typically their ears, face, trunk, and belly have large concentrations of pink-speckled skin.

Sri Lankan males have very large cranial bulges, and both sexes have more areas of depigmentation than are found in the other Asians. Large males can weigh upward to 12,000 pounds and stand over 11 feet tall. There are an estimated total of only 3,000-4,500 members of this subspecies left today in the wild, although no accurate census has been carried out in the recent past. Found only on the island of Sri Lanka, a small country off the southeast coast of India, it is the largest of the Asians.

The first subspecies is the Sri Lankan Asian elephant (Elephas maximus maximus). An Asian elephant can also be distinguished by the large bulges of depigmentation on the skin. It has smaller ears, shaped like the subcontinent of India, and typically only the males have large external tusks. In general, the Asian elephant is smaller than the African.

As with the Loxodonta, there are distinct subspecies of Elephas maximus. The causes of this decline are much the same as that of the African. Perhaps the Asian elephants' decline has been less noticeable because it has been more gradual. Today scientists estimate the world population of Asian elephants, or Elephas maximus, to be approximately 40,000, less than one-tenth the number of African elephants.

Normally they inhabit the dense forests of central and western Africa, though occasionally they do inhabit the edges of forests and overlap territories with bush elephants. Much less is known about these animals than their savanna cousins because environmental and political obstacles make them very difficult to study. The Forest Elephant can weigh up to 10,000 lb (4,500 kg) and stand about 10 feet (3 m) tall. Compared with the Savanna Elephant, its ears are usually smaller and rounder, and its tusks are also thinner and straighter.

The other, less numerous species is the Forest Elephant, recently reclassified as Loxodonta cyclotis. They range over most of Africa south of the Sahara Desert. Most often, Savanna Elephants are found in open grasslands, marshes, and lakeshores. In fact, it is the largest land animal in the world, standing on average 13 feet (4 meters) at the shoulder and weighing approximately 15,400 pounds (7,000 kilograms).

Today, Loxodonta africana refers specifically to the Savanna Elephant, the largest of all the elephants. Recent DNA analysis has led scientists to reclassify the two races as distinct species. Until the late 20th century, scientists recognized one species of African elephants, Loxodonta africana, and two subspecies, or races, within the species. Both males and females have external tusks and are usually less hairy than their Asian cousins.

The African elephant is typically larger than the Asian and has a concave back. Africans' ears are much larger and are shaped like the continent of their origin. The most noticeable difference is the ears. African elephants are distinguished from Asians in several ways.

This decline is attributed primarily to poaching, or illegal hunting, and habitat loss. One decade later, only around 600,000 remain. As recently as 1979 there were an estimated 1.3 million African elephants. Others argue that while elephants are locally overabundant in certain areas, it is impossible to ignore the fact that the overall population has dropped by a staggering amount.

Some believe this represents a stable population and that measures to protect them are unnecessary. Today there are approximately 600,000 African elephants in the world. In recent years, Loxodonta has received the attention of the world because of its dwindling numbers. The mammals of the genus Loxodonta, often known collectively as African elephants, are found in several regions throughout the continent after which they are named.

. The elephant is now a protected animal, and keeping one as a pet is prohibited around the world. Recent findings of animal remains in central China show Prehistoric elephants ate humans. Their scattered skulls, featuring a single large trunk-hole at the front, formed the basis of belief in existence of cyclops, one-eyed giants, which are featured in Homer's Odyssey.

The smallest elephants, about the size of a calf or a large pig, were a pre-historic variant that lived on the island of Crete until 5000 BC, possibly 3000 BC. It was male and weighed 12,000 kilograms (26,400 lb). The largest elephant ever recorded was shot in Angola in 1974. An elephant may live as long as 70 years.

It takes 20 to 22 months for a baby elephant to mature to birth, the longest gestation period of any land animal. At birth it is common for an elephant calf to weigh 120 kg (265 lb). Elephants are the largest land animals and largest land mammals alive today. Other species have become extinct since the last ice age, which ended about 10,000 years ago.

Elephantidae has three living species: the Savannah Elephant and Forest Elephant (which were collectively known as the African Elephant) and the Asian Elephant (formerly known as the Indian Elephant). Elephantidae (the elephants) is a family of animals, and the only remaining family in the order Proboscidea. As a defense against their tusked counterparts, these elephants typically learn to be far more aggressive and sometimes willing to attack unprovoked. Tuskless elephants are becoming increasingly more common, particularly in Asia where they may rank as high as 40%.

Elephants used for work can be pushed too far, and they lash out from the stress at their handlers. When a herd was found eating crops from the farmers crop field, they attempted to drive them away by shooting above their heads and tossing sticks that they lit on fire. Humans are slowly destroying the food source of elephants by human development.