Fortunately, you can view one here at the Zoo!At this living exhibit showcasing Hawaiian plants, you'll discover the many treasures that exist in the flora of the Hawaiian Islands.With their eyes, ears, and nostrils on the top of the head, hippos can hear, see, and breathe while most of their body is underwater.Jaguars are built for life in the tropical rain forest, with muscular limbs and large paws to climb trees, pad along the forest floor, and even swim in rivers and streams.The largest venomous snake in the world, the king cobra has special muscles and ribs in its neck that spread out to form a "hood" when it feels threatened.Standing less than 2 feet tall at the shoulder, klipspringers can jump 10 to 15 feet straight up in the air!The San Diego Zoo has the largest koala colony—as well as the most successful koala breeding program—outside of Australia.Known as the bushman’s alarm clock, a laughing kookaburra vocalizes in its family group at dawn and dusk—with a loud call that sounds like a variety of trills, chortles, belly laughs, and hoots.Found in only one area on Earth—Madagascar and the nearby Comoro Islands—lemurs are considered the world’s most endangered group of mammals.Lions are famous for their sonorous roar but have other forms of communication as well, mostly used to mark territory. So, we use the same system as racehorse owners. Marshes are the perfect place for soft plant food, so old elephants are often found there. Elephants dig with their tusks and use them to lift and move objects and to protect themselves. Their trunks are a little different, too: African elephants have two “fingers” at the end of their trunk; Asian elephants have one. Many times they stay there until they die.
Home. POPULAR TIMES AND CURRENT WAIT TIME Please click here for important information before you visit. Along with aerial survey wildlife counts and satellite-collared elephant data, these projects are essential for developing community-based conservation programs to reduce human-elephant conflict and make better-informed conservation decisions for all.Late 30s to more than 50 years in the wild and in zoosWeight at birth: 110 to 264 pounds (50 to 120 kilograms)Height at birth: 26 to 42 inches (66 to 107 centimeters)Height at shoulder: Females average 8 feet (2.4 meters), males average 10 to 10.5 (3 to 3.2 meters)Weight: African elephant females up to 8,000 pounds (3.600 kilograms), males up to 15,000 pounds (6,800 kilograms) Weight: Asian elephant females about 6,000 pounds (2,720 kilograms), males 11,000 pounds (nearly 5,000 kilograms)An elephant’s skin is so sensitive that it can feel a fly landing on it.The low, resounding calls elephants make can be heard by another elephant up to 5 miles (8 kilometers) away.Elephants have been relentlessly slaughtered for their tusks, even though the tusks are made of dentine–the same as our teeth.In India’s Andaman Islands, elephants swim across the sea between the islands.An elephant’s skull weighs about 115 pounds (52 kilograms); it would be even heavier without honeycomb-like spaces that reduce the skull's weight.Elephants favor either their left or right tusk.
The thumb is the elephant’s trunk. Most bromeliads collect a pool of water in their centers and flower above the cup.When they fly, California condors are a sight to behold.
Only after they become adults do they visit herds of females, and that is only for short periods of time to breed. Once male elephants are old enough to find their own food and protect themselves, they leave the herd and live on their own or form bachelor herds with other males.
As we face the ongoing challenges of COVID-19, our team of dedicated specialists continue to care for countless animals and plants that depend on us each and every day.Your continued support is critical to the wildlife in our care and vital to endangered species worldwide.An elephant’s skin can be up to 1 inch (2.54 centimeters) thick on some parts of its body.