Asian elephants warm up faster than they cool down
The weather in Portland, Oregon, is very temperate, with temperatures rarely dipping below freezing in winter or getting too hot in summer. That's good news for the Oregon Zoo's family of Asian elephants, whose range countries tend to be temperate as well. But what about those rare days when it is cold outside?
Like all mammals, Asian elephants heat and cool their bodies through an internal process called thermoregulation. Elephants' large size helps them to maintain fairly constant core body temperatures, and research on elephant thermoregulation indicates their size and metabolic rates combined "result in heat production rates that exceed heat loss rates." That means their bodies hold on to more heat than they lose throughout the day. This extra body heat can be a challenge for some elephants on very hot days, but studies have found it to be "a considerable advantage in cold weather."
All year, Oregon Zoo elephants have the choice to be indoors or outside
The elephant family at the Oregon Zoo keeps warm in other ways as well. They have nearly 24-hour access to Forest Hall, one of the largest indoor elephant habitats in the world. It's kept at a steady temperature of around 70 degrees — warm and comfortable for the elephants 365 days a year, rain or shine. Even on colder days, some individuals choose to leave the heated indoor area and spend more time outdoors, while other members of the herd choose to remain indoors.
When temperatures do drop below freezing, the herd often goes outside for short periods of time. This is especially true on snow days, when the elephants can be seen venturing out to explore, sometimes choosing to spend time under the heated shelters located throughout their habitat. Though they're not usually outside in these temperatures for more than a short time, their care staff says they enjoy these rare snowy experiences.
Elephant Lands was built on the zoo's philosophy that all animals' lives should be filled with choice. The elephants can choose whether to swim in their pool or play in their mud wallow; they can choose to spend time inside or outside. When the temperature drops they can usually be found in Forest Hall, but when they do go outside in the cold their bodies help them to stay warm.
Technically, caregivers need to become concerned when temperatures reach 42 degrees F (6 degrees C) or below. That is when elephants may get frostbite on some of their more vulnerable areas. In some parts of Asia where elephants live, it stays cold for months.
A study of African savannah elephants found that they alter their behaviors when they experience higher temperatures. They spend more time seeking out shade and bathing themselves in water to cool down. Their feeding, walking, and resting behaviors also changed.
Their optimum body temperature is 36 ℃ (96,8 ℉ ) and they have some nifty techniques and adaptations to maintain this, even on scorchingly hot days. A number of the methods that elephants use to keep cool can be seen in the above video.
One of the best physical cooling adaptations of both African and Asian elephants are their ears. Yes, you heard right – ears. In fact, elephants can lower their overall temperature by more than ten degrees celsius by simply flapping their massive ears to create wind.
Despite living in hot environments, elephants are actually very sensitive to heat. For example, one study in Myanmar found that the temperature at which Asian elephants are most likely to thrive is a mere 23 degrees Celsius (73.4 degrees Fahrenheit). Rising above that optimum temperature places elephants at risk.
For elephants between 1 month and 17 years of age, maximal survival was reached at -24 degrees C, and any departures from this temperature increased mortality, whereas neonates and mature elephants had maximal survival at even lower temperatures.
In fact, elephant body regulation is very similar to desert mammals like camels. During the day elephants will increase their body temperatures, and during the night they will lower them (this also helps for when the night is very cold and the animal wishes to conserve instead of dissipate heat).
Elephants are generally adapted to live in warm climates and are not well-suited for extremely cold environments. While they can tolerate cooler temperatures to some extent, prolonged exposure to very cold conditions can pose risks to their health and well-being.
Modeling predicts climate change has potential to eliminate elephants aged 41 and over. Summary: Older elephants in East Africa will be most severely impacted by climate change, threatening the long-term survival of this vulnerable African mammal, according to a new study.
Hotter temperatures and decreased rainfall increase stress on elephants older than 40 by reducing the amount of food available and prompting migrations, according to a modeling study based on 50 years of data in the Greater Virunga region of East Africa.
Elephants live in tropical and subtropical regions of Africa and Asia. They are found most often in savannas, grasslands, and forests, but they also live in deserts, swamps, and mountains.
African elephants inhabit a diverse array of habitats including tropical forests, savannas, grasslands, and woodlands. Tropical forests are characterized as having little variance in temperature (around 23°C) and length of daylight (around 12 hours).
Desert-dwelling elephants can survive without drinking water for several days. They survive by eating moisture-laden vegetation that grows in riverbeds. Sometimes, they must travel long distances to reach a water source.
Their ears are super thin, cover a huge surface area and filled to the brim with blood capillaries and vessels. What this allows them to do when it gets a bit too hot, is to pump their blood through those ears consistently while flapping them through the air.
Elephant ears are winter hardy in zones 9-11 and the tubers will not survive freezing temperatures. In colder areas, you can either treat elephant ears as annuals and discard them at the end of the growing season, or you can store the tubers indoors and replant them next year.
For example: Giraffes can comfortably enjoy temperatures as low as 50 degrees Fahrenheit but could slip and fall if the ground is still wet from a recent storm.
Introduction: My name is Tyson Zemlak, I am a excited, light, sparkling, super, open, fair, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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