Desert Elephant
Desert elephants are hardy pachyderms native to the desert. Nomadic by nature, they wander far and wide in search of precious food or water. Being both big, tough and clever, only the largest predators are a threat to elephants. While they can be belligerent, they also tend to be gentle animals. They have been known to aid other beings in need of help, including humans.
While they can move with some speed, elephants in danger will often form rank and try to fight off predators. Smaller aggressors, usually going for calves, are crushed underfoot, as the elephant uses it's massive weight as a weapon. The same weight allows it to stand its ground against larger assailants, which they'll try to impale with their tusks. They are skilled at cooperation and elephants of the same flock will fight together to protect their packmates.
Basic Information
Anatomy
The desert elephant is a large and stocky quadruped. Their thick skin is sandy-brown. They have very large ears and their nose is a large, mobile trunk, placed between two tusks.
Their bodies are well-suited for thermoregulation. Their thick skin allows them to retain heat during the cold night, while their large ears and trunks allows them to cool during the day.
Biological Traits
Male, or bull, elephants tend to be larger on average than females.
Genetics and Reproduction
Desert elephants reproduce through sexual intercourse. Once impregnated, the female carries the fetus to term for a year and two to three seasons.
Growth Rate & Stages
The young elephant stays with its mother's herd for the next twelve to fifteen years, growing steadily. Thereafter, male children will leave to wander on their own, whereas female elephants stay with their family.
Ecology and Habitats
Desert elephants, as the name implies, are adapted to life in the desert. They migrate, either in female/child flocks or as lone bull elephants, between oases, springs and similar patches of greenery. Young elephants are often targeted by predators, were as dead adult elephants provide a large amount of carrion for scavengers.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Desert elephants are herbivores and eat a variety of plants and fruits, harvested from the various places of greenery in the desert.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Female and young elephants travel together in flocks. Adult male elephants, known as bull elephant, are either solitary or live in small all-male groups. Bull elephants begin seeking out females in heat once they are about twenty-five to thirty years old. Desert elephants are very social and have been known to adopt stray calves and mourn their dead.
Domestication
Desert elephants have been domesticated. Qawramalian nomads sometimes tame them to carry heavy loads. Suqarans have sometimes domesticated entire flocks, using herds of bull elephants for warfare.
Uses, Products & Exploitation
Elephant meat and milk are both considered delicacies. The ivory of their tusk are often used to carve figurines and other items of artistic value.
Average Intelligence
Desert elephants are highly intelligent animals, demonstrating memory, facial recognition, a wide emotional spectrum and problem solving skills.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Desert elephants have eyes, ears and a nose.
Scientific Name
Elephantis Harenae
Lifespan
50 years
Average Height
2.9-3.2 meters
Average Weight
44-46 tons
Geographic Distribution
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