"Of all the land animals I have collected data on, I have discovered that elephants are the largest. They are very strong, extremely intelligent and have amazing memories. There are two main species of elephant - African and Asian. As their names suggest, they live in different parts of the world."

"Would you believe that unlike most animals, elephants continue to grow throughout their lives - so the older they get, the bigger they become. The African elephant is much larger than the Asian elephant - it can grow to up to four metres tall - that's about the height of a double decker bus!"

"Did you know that an elephant's trunk is made up of 40,000 muscles and has no bones? It is very flexible, and can be used to push, pull and pick up objects. The elephant also uses its trunk to put food in its mouth and suck up water. Flapping its huge ears helps to keep an elephant cool."

"Another amazing feature of the elephant is its ivory tusks, which are actually an extension of its incisor teeth! Elephants use their tusks to dig for water and strip bark from trees. Of the Asian elephants it is only the males that grow tusks, whereas both sexes of African elephants have them."

"Like humans, both African and Asian elephants live in family groups - these are known as herds. Only adult females and young calves live in these herds. Adult males live alone and only join the females during the mating season."

"Elephant females (or cows) give birth to one calf every four years or so, after a pregnancy that lasts for nearly two years! Within half an hour of being born, the calf can stand up and feed from its mother."

"One of the biggest threats to elephants is the trade in their ivory tusks. Ivory can only legally be taken from dead elephants and sadly many elephants have been killed illegally, so their tusks can be removed. Another serious threat facing elephants is the destruction of their habitat."

"WWF protects elephants from poachers who want to kill them for their ivory and works to ensure that areas of elephant habitat are protected. WWF also helps people who live near elephants to find peaceful ways of preventing them from damaging their crops."