Born in the Wild: Elephant Trivia Quiz

Answer: calves

Baby elephants are called calves. At birth, they can weigh up to 100kg.

A puggle is a baby echidna (or platypus), a leveret is a baby hare and a porcupette is a baby porcupine.

Answer: True

Like giraffes, elephants give birth standing up. For the baby, it's a rather rude welcome into the world.

Answer: ten

Male African elephants reach sexual maturity between the ages of twelve and fifteen. It's the same for male Asian elephants. Female Asian elephants start breeding between the ages of twelve and fourteen.

While female elephants live in herds of between five and ten individuals, males live alone.

Answer: one

Normally a female elephant would only give birth to one baby, however, on rare occasions, there may be twins.

Answer: it depends on the baby's gender

Female calves will stay with their family herd permanently. Males, however, leave the herd once they reach sexual maturity.

Answer: musth

Musth is caused by an elevation of testosterone. It's best to avoid elephants that are going through musth as they can be very aggressive and unpredictable.

Gedra, Dhaqmin, and Kuishi are all words found in various African languages.

Answer: True

Unlike Asian elephants, where tusks are only found on the males, both male and female African elephants have tusks. These tusks can grow between 1.5 and 2.5 metres long.

Answer: twenty-two months

At twenty-two months, elephants have the longest known gestation period for any animal. Although the calf is fully developed by the 19th month, it will not be born for another three months. By this time, it will have grown big enough to be able feed from its mother.

Answer: between 60 and 80 years

While droughts and predators (including humans) kill hundreds of elephants every year, the average lifespan is somewhere between sixty and eighty years. Elephants are social animals and, like us, they grieve when a loved one dies.

Answer: for protection

While there have been occasions where captive elephants have given birth during the day, it's much safer for their wild cousins to give birth at night. The cover of darkness helps to hide the newborn calf from predators.