Liu Wei: "The African savannah elephant is the largest elephant in the family of elephants, about 20% larger than the African forest elephant and about 30% larger than the Asian elephant.

As the largest mammal on land, the African savannah elephant has few natural predators in its habitat.

But does the absence of natural predators mean that it is invincible, and where does it stand in the food chain?

Next, I will give you a detailed analysis of these two issues based on the knowledge I have. ”

First of all, we must understand the meaning of the food chain, the most straightforward explanation, the food chain is in the ecosystem, the relationship between organisms because of food, that is, "the big fish eat the small fish, the small fish eat the shrimp game".

Plants are at the bottom of the food chain, but they have the ability to convert inorganic matter into organic matter, providing essential nutrients for herbivores to survive.

Therefore, we can think of plants as primary producers in the food chain.

The second is the animals that feed on plants, they usually have a relatively high status in the food chain, we collectively call them herbivores, they are the first level of consumers in the food chain, this class of animal species is huge, far apart, it can be as small as the locusts we see, it can be as big as this steppe elephant in front of me.

Next, the herbivores are the carnivores.

The African savannah elephant is a pure herbivore, and if we go by the hierarchy of the food chain we just had, it belongs to the first level of consumers.

One of the characteristics of the primary consumers is that they are the food of the secondary and tertiary consumers, and from this point of view, the status of the African savannah elephant is somewhat contrary to conventional logic.

The average weight of an adult African savannah elephant is close to 5 tons, which is 25 times the weight of an adult African male lion. Of course, there are also records of lions killing grassland elephants, most of which occur before the grassland elephants reach maturity.

We can see from this that although the African savannah elephant belongs to the first level of consumers, it is not satisfied with the progressive relationship of becoming a second and third level of consumers.

So, we can think of the African savannah elephant as the animal at the top of the food chain, but as a herbivore. ”

The audience listened to it with little understanding

I roughly understand what Liu Wei means.

"Beyond it, rhinos and hippos are not satisfied with the progressive relationship of the food chain!"

"It's all giants, don't dare to mess with them!"

"The hippopotamus is not a first-class consumer, although it feeds mainly on aquatic plants, but it also eats meat, it is an omnivore!"

"The live broadcast room is so cultured!"

Liu Wei continued: "Let's move on to the second question, is the African savannah elephant invincible?

Suffice it to say that despite the wild slaughter of African savannah elephants by poachers, they are still very widespread and can be found almost all over the continent.

In terms of living space, it has a high overlap with predators such as African lions, hyenas, and leopards.

However, because of the size gap, the lion and leopard, the carnivores at the top of the African food chain, basically exclude the adult male African elephant from their diet.

From this point of view, the adult male African savannah elephant can be said to be a natural predator in the wild.

However, it has a powerful natural enemy on Earth, and that is us humans. ”

"Poof~, I know!"

"Humans are the natural enemies of all animals!"

"Should I be proud, or should I be sad?" 2018

"Hey~, it's hard to say!"

Liu Wei's face also became serious, "Before the 70s of the last century, African grassland elephants began to be ravaged by humans, at that time, the African indigenous people were more of the huge body of the grassland elephants as food hunting, a large number of elephants died in the traps and muzzles of the indigenous people, they only took elephant meat and elephant skin, respectively to eat and make simple daily necessities.

It was only after the 70s that the ivory market began to emerge, and the international craft market began to buy a large number of ivory, and after that, the indigenous people killed elephants not only for meat and skin, but also to take ivory to make money.

We know that the male African savannah elephant has the longest tusks of all elephants, and when the tusks are treated as gold bars, they become the number one target for human hunting.

I remember when we were teaching about Asian elephants, we had a conversation about the question, is an elephant that loses its tusks going to die?

The answer is not absolute, the ivory we see with the naked eye is only a part of the length of the whole ivory, and the thickest third of it is born on its head, and poachers often covet this part of the ivory, so they often cut off its entire head and take away the part inside after hunting the grassland elephant, which is extremely cruel!"

"Damn, I can't listen to it anymore!"

"Is this Nima a human thing?"

"Sad!"

"Such people must be sentenced to death!"

Liu Wei continued: "In fact, the tusks of African elephants grow for life, and the exposed part is mainly composed of tooth enamel, and there are no nerves and blood vessels in it.

You should have seen in many documentaries that the elephant with its tusks has not been affected, but it will be weaker than its kind when fighting for mate rights.

In addition, the elephant's tusks also have the function of assisting them in feeding, and the breaking of the ivory will directly affect its eating, and it may not be enough to eat in the dry season when food is scarce.

Often, these elephants become emaciated and lonely. ”

Liu Wei touched the tusks of the grassland elephant, "When we search for ivory pictures on the Internet, we will find that there is a hollow hole in the upper end of the tusk, which only appears when the whole tusk is taken, because the exposed part is actually solid, and the end of the tusk, which is hidden in the remaining one-third of the length of the head, is directly connected to a large number of nerves and blood vessels."

If the whole tusks of an elephant were removed, the elephant would surely die.

So as long as the elephant is targeted by poaching, it basically can't survive. ”

"Human hunting is an elephant's nightmare!"

"Ivory products are not our necessities, and it is cruel to kill them for an unnecessary thing!"

"Ivory products are so popular in the market, especially for the wealthy!"

"No buying, no killing!"

"I've seen a documentary about the slaughter of African elephants, and it's shocking!"

Liu Wei concluded: "Elephants are an important part of the whole planet's ecology, and we should not treat them with an attitude of unlimited demand.

In 2017, China banned the ivory trade, and the maximum penalty for selling or buying ivory is 10 years in prison.

However, the funniest thing is that some developed countries are talking nonsense and saying that China is the largest ivory trading market, and the actual data shows that the United States is the largest trading market, the United Kingdom is the largest reserve market, and Japan is the largest producer of ivory products!"

"Phew~, shameless!"

"Habitually groping China!"

"His uncle, it's really China a hundred years ago!"