Elephants are mammals, and the largest land animals alive today. Apart from their massive size their most striking feature is a long trunk, or proboscis, a flexible nose strong enough to lift objects. Elephants' gestation period, at 22 months, is the longest of any land mammal. At birth it is common for an elephant calf to weigh 120 kg (265 lb). An elephant may live as long as 70 years, sometimes longer. The largest elephant ever recorded was shot in Angola in 1956. It was male and weighed about 12,000 kg (26,400 lb), with a shoulder height of 4.2m, a meter taller than the average male African elephant.
==Elephants in culture==
Elephants are not mentioned directly in the [[Bible]]. According to the young earth creationist view they were created on the sixth day with the other beasts of the earth (Genesis 1:24-25) and survived the [[Great Flood]] on [[Noah's Ark]] (Genesis 7:7-8). The Apocryphal book [[1 Maccabees]] mentions thirty-two elephants sent by the Persian king Antiochus to attack [[Judas Machabeus]]. Numerous references are made to [[ivory]], a substance created from their tusks and worth great amounts. In more recent times, domestic elephants have been used for riding, Polo, carrying heavy loads, and [[war]] elephants. An elephant is the symbol of the [[Republican Party]].
In more recent times, domestic elephants have been used for riding, Polo, carrying heavy loads, Elephants are not mentioned directly in the [[Bible]]. According to the young earth creationist view they were created on the sixth day with the other beasts of the earth (Genesis 1:24-25) and survived the [[warGreat Flood]] on [[Noah's Ark]] (Genesis 7:7-8). The Apocryphal book [[1 Maccabees]] mentions thirty-two elephantssent by the Persian king Antiochus to attack [[Judas Machabeus]]. Numerous references are made to [[ivory]], a substance created from their tusks and worth great amounts.
Centuries of hunting elephants for their ivory has dwindled the population of these animals.An elephant is the symbol of the [[Republican Party]].
== Support for Creationism ==
