A Complete Travel Guide

 

Zambia Tourism Board

 

 
  HOME

  TOUR & SAFARI Co's

  PLACES TO VISIT
  
 Victoria Falls
   Zambezi River
 
   Lake Kariba  
   Lake Tanganyika  
   Other Waterfalls  
   Chimp Sanctuary
   Shiwa Ngandu 
   Lake Bangweulu 
   Livingstone Memorial 
  
Lake Mweru 
   Monuments 
   Museums
   Art Galleries
 
  GAME RESERVES

    South Luangwa
   North Luangwa
   Lower Zambezi
   Kafue 

   Sumbu
   Lochinvar
   Nyika
   Sioma Ngwezi
   Kasanka
   Bangweulu Wetlands
  
Liuwa Plain
   Mosi-o-Tunya
   Luambe
   Blue Lagoon
   Other Smaller Parks

  CITIES & TOWNS
    
Lusaka
 
 Livingstone  
  
The Copperbelt  
 
 Other Towns


  SAFARIS
   
Walking Safaris
 
 Birding Safaris
 
 Canoeing Safaris
 
 Mobile Safaris
   
Elephant Back Safaris
   Horse Back Safaris
  
Photographic Safaris
 
 Open Vehicle Safaris

  ADVENTURE/SPORTS
   Driving around Zambia

   
White Water Rafting

   River Boarding
   Bungi Jumping
   Abseiling
   Gorge Swinging
   Horse Trails
  
Tandem Kayaking
  
Canoeing/River Safaris

   House Boating
   Tiger and Fly
Fishing

  WILDLIFE
    Illustrated Checklists

  BIRDLIFE
     
In depth synopsis
   
Checklists

  DIRECTORY
     Adventure Companies
    Airlines
   
Air Charter

    Art Galleries
    Backpackers
    Campsites & Chalets  
   
Car Hire
   
Coaches / Buses

    Embassies
    Emergency Numbers
    Fishing Camps
    Game Lodges
    Golf Courses
    Private Reserves

    Govt Offices
    Guesthouses
    Hospitals
    Hotels
    Safari Operators
    Tours

   
Trains
    Travel Agents

  TRAVEL INFO
   Quick Facts

  
Getting There
   
Getting Around
   Handy Information
  
Visa Info  

  PEOPLE
   History
   Culture
  
Major Tribes
  
Ceremonies 

 

  ENVIRONMENT
   Geography
   Vegetation
   Conservation

   MAPS

  PHOTO GALLERIES

  LINKS

  TRAVEL NEWS

  ENQUIRIES

  ADVERTISING

 

 

ELEPHANT

An elephant’s social life is organised around a family unit, which consists of an adult female and her offspring and two or more closely related females and their offspring. Bulls leave the family unit at puberty when they are about 16 years old and join bachelor groups or move about alone.
The best guide for determining sex is to look at their head profiles; males have a rounded head and females a squarer head.


At birth, an elephant calf weighs 118kg (260 pounds) and is able to walk under its mothers belly for the first year. Elephants spend 16-18 hours a day grazing and browsing, from ground level to 18 feet or more into trees, when standing on their hind legs and stretching out their long trunks. They also use their trunks to squirt water into their mouths at seven litres a sip! In a full drinking session elephants take up to 50 litres of water.
 
The flapping action of their ears when charging is thought to be merely a cooling action as the stress of the moment causes them to become overheated. The advantage of this is that it helps them to look even more fearsome to their enemies. Elephants are unfortunately very destructive feeders and often large trees are pushed over and only a few leaves eaten from the top. If too many are confined to a small area, massive damage and deforestation can and does indeed occur, especially in the
Luangwa Valley.

Of all its specialized features, the muscular trunk is the most remarkable it serves as a nose, a hand, an extra foot, a signaling device and a tool for gathering food, siphoning water, dusting, digging and a variety of other functions. Not only does the long trunk permit the elephant to reach as high as 23 feet, but it can also perform movements as delicate as picking berries or caressing a companion. It is capable, too, of powerful twisting and coiling movements used for tearing down trees or fighting.

The tusks, another remarkable feature, are greatly elongated incisors (elephants have no canine teeth); about one-third of their total length lies hidden inside the skull. The largest tusk ever recorded weighed 214 pounds and was 138 inches long. Tusks of this size are not found on elephants in Africa today, as over the years hunters and poachers have taken animals with the largest tusks. Because tusk size is an inherited characteristic, it is rare to find one now that would weigh more than 100 pounds.

Elephants are generally gregarious and form small family groups consisting of an older matriarch and three or four offspring, along with their young. It was once thought that family groups were led by old bull elephants, but these males are most often solitary. The female family groups are often visited by mature males checking for females in estrus. Several interrelated family groups may inhabit an area and know each other well. When they meet at watering holes and feeding places, they greet each other affectionately.

Smell is the most highly developed sense, but sound deep growling or rumbling noises is the principle means of communication. Some researchers think that each individual has its signature growl by which it can be distinguished. Sometimes elephants communicate with an ear-splitting blast when in danger or alarmed, causing others to form a protective circle around the younger members of the family group. Elephants make low-frequency calls, many of which, though loud, are too low for humans to hear. These sounds allow elephants to communicate with one another at distances of five or six miles

COMMON WILDLIFE SIGHTINGS IN ZAMBIA

  

See the new page
VIDEOS OF ZAMBIA
with short clips on
safaris, wildlife,
Victoria Falls,
adventures and more

CLICK HERE
for
the Tourist Board
Video on Zambia



Photo Gallery Pages
by destination,


Download
Electronic Brochures

* Zambia Highlights

 * Tourism Investment
Opportunities in the
 Kafue National Park

 



 Find the most 
comprehensive range of 
cheap flights to Lusaka
 chosen by our travel experts

 

 

 

 

Designed and hosted
by
 
for the
Zambia National

Tourist Board

Contact Webmaster                                Contact ZNTB  offices                         © All text on this site is under Copyright