THE ELEPHANT TRUNK

An elephant in Amboseli  National Park

An elephant in Tsavo East National Park.

An elephant in Tsavo East National Park.

 The elephant Trunk is a fusion of nose and upper lip elongated  and specialized  to serve many functions.African savanna elephants and African forest elephants are equipped with two fingerlike projections at the tip of their trunk while Asian elephants have only one fingerlike.These fingerlike enable the elephants to grasp food and other small objects.Elephants trunk is very sensitive enough to pick up a single blade of grass,yet strong enough to rip off branches of trees.
The elephants use their trunks to strip vegetation from branches and to pull grasses from the ground.The trunk also used for drinking water.Elephants suck water up into their trunk up to 14 litres at a time and then blow it to their mouths.Elephants also suck water to spray on their bodies during bathing. On the top of this watery coating skin,the elephants will then spray mud which dries and help them to repel insects and harmful rays of sun. Elephants also use trunk for greeting each other much like handshake.A raised trunk can be a warning or threat while a lowered trunk can be a sign of submission. 
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