Baby Elephant

When a baby elephant is born, its weight is only 200 to 300 pounds, despite it becoming one of the world's largest land animals. You may be surprised to learn that young elephants are referred to as calves.

Elephants don't instinctively know how to use their trunks as babies. Elephants lack muscle tone in their trunks when they are born, making them difficult to control. They must practice plenty to build strength and dexterity in their trunks. When elephants are young, they strengthen their trunks by playing in water and swinging them back and forth.

The time it takes an adult elephant to give birth to a newborn elephant is 22 months. The elephant carries the longest pregnancy on Earth due to this long gestation period. Because 200-pound babies take so long to develop, elephants are pregnant for so long.

There is a staggering 99% chance of elephants being born in the evening. In order to protect their young from predators and promote a calm environment, elephants evolved this evolutionary trait.