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Elephant Facts for Kids: 11 Surprising Facts

African elephants live in grasslands and forests in Africa.

The facts we checked

  1. An elephant's trunk is a nose and an upper lip in one. It has no bones.Source: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Elephant, checked 2026-10-05
  2. The tip of the trunk works like two little fingers. It can pick up a single leaf or a berry.Source: National Geographic Kids, African elephant, checked 2026-10-05
  3. To drink, an elephant sucks water up its trunk, then pours it into its mouth.Source: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance: Elephant; National Geographic Kids: African elephant, checked 2026-10-05
  4. The trunk is a super nose. Elephants use it to smell the air.Source: National Geographic Kids, African elephant, checked 2026-10-05
  5. Elephants greet each other by wrapping their trunks together, like a hug.Source: National Geographic Kids, African elephant, checked 2026-10-05
  6. An elephant can use its trunk like a snorkel when it wades in deep water.Source: National Geographic Kids, African elephant, checked 2026-10-05
  7. At the San Diego Zoo, an elephant drinks about 20 to 50 gallons of water every day.Source: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Elephant, checked 2026-10-05
  8. Elephants spend about 16 hours of every day eating.Source: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Elephant, checked 2026-10-05
  9. A herd is usually led by the matriarch, the oldest and most experienced female.Source: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Elephant, checked 2026-10-05
  10. Big elephant ears work like fans. Flapping them helps an elephant cool down.Source: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Elephant, checked 2026-10-05
  11. An elephant's trunk has thousands of muscles. That makes it strong and bendy!Source: National Geographic Kids: African elephant; San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance: Elephant, checked 2026-10-05

Quick check

True or false? Read each sentence and decide before you open the answers.

  1. An elephant's trunk is a nose and an upper lip in one. It has no bones.
  2. At the San Diego Zoo, an elephant drinks about 20 to 190 gallons of water every day.
  3. The tip of the trunk works like two little fingers. It can pick up a single leaf or a berry.
Show the answers
  1. True.
  2. False. The real fact is: At the San Diego Zoo, an elephant drinks about 20 to 50 gallons of water every day.
  3. True.

Keep reading

Facts checked against the sources listed under each fact. Sources can update their numbers, so we re-check facts every year.