Elephants are exceptionally smart creatures. Have you ever heard the saying "an elephant never forgets"? It is true! Elephants have amazing memories and use their knowledge of their large home ranges to survive. In South Africa, water can be hard to find during times when it hasn't rained a lot. When droughts dry up the rivers and streams they normally depend on for drinking, elephants will remember far-off watering holes where water can be found. Elephants live in groups led by the wisest female elephant, called the matriarch. The matriarchs teach the young elephants this knowledge and pass on their memories from one generation to the next.
Elephants have no natural predators! Not even a pride of lions can take down an adult elephant. However, it is sad to say that the number of wild elephants is quickly shrinking and elephants are only found in a few places in Africa when they were found across the whole continent a hundred years ago. This is because of humans. Illegal hunters called poachers kill elephants to sell their tusks, which are made of ivory. Humans have also turned a lot of elephants' natural habitats into farms and pastures, pushing them off and reducing the land elephants have to live in. Elephants are resilient creatures and can adapt to many conditions, but they need our help. Luckily, many great conservationists (people who save wild animals and plants) work hard to protect the elephants, stop poaching and help them survive into the future.
