Beast Studio

Liu Wei: “The African savanna elephant is the largest elephant among the 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 savanna elephant has few natural predators in its range.

However, having no natural enemies, does that mean it is invincible? Also, what is its position 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 is that the food chain is a connection between organisms in an ecosystem due to food. It is the game of "big fish eats small fish, and small fish eat shrimps." .

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

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

Secondly, there are animals that feed on plants. They usually have a relatively high position in the food chain. We collectively call them herbivores. They are the first-level consumers in the food chain. The animal species in this class are huge and very different. , it can be as small as the locusts we see, or as big as this prairie elephant in front of me.

Next, those that feed on herbivores are carnivores.

The African savannah elephant is a pure herbivore. If we divide it according to the food chain hierarchy just now, it belongs to the first-level consumer.

One characteristic of primary consumers is that they serve as food for secondary and tertiary consumers. From this point of view, the status of African savannah elephants somewhat violates conventional logic.

The average weight of an adult African savanna elephant is close to 5 tons, which is 25 times that of an adult African male lion. With such a huge size difference, even a group of lions do not dare to easily provoke a savannah elephant. Of course, there are also records of lions hunting prairie elephants, most of which occurred before the prairie elephants matured.

We can see from this that although the African savanna elephant is a first-level consumer, it does not meet the progressive relationship of becoming a second- and third-level consumer food.

Therefore, we can regard the African savannah elephant as the animal at the top of the food chain, but a herbivore. "

The audience was half-informed

I roughly understand what Liu Wei means.

"Beyond it,

Rhinos and hippos are not satisfied with the progressive relationship of the food chain! "

"They are all fucking Big Macs, don't dare mess with them!"

"The hippopotamus is not a primary consumer. Although it mainly feeds on aquatic plants, it also eats meat. It is an omnivore!"

“The live broadcast room is so cultured!”

Liu Wei continued: "Let's discuss the second question: Are African savannah elephants invincible?

It can be said that although the African savanna elephant has been brutally slaughtered by poachers, its distribution range is still very wide, almost all over the African continent.

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

However, due to the size difference, lions and leopards, the top carnivores of the African food chain, basically exclude adult male African elephants from their diets.

From this point of view, adult male African savanna elephants can be said to be natural enemies in the wild.

However, it has a powerful natural enemy on the earth, and that is us humans. "

"Pfft~, I knew it!"

"Humans are the natural enemy of all animals!"

"Should I feel proud? Or should I feel sad?"

"Hey~, it's hard to put it into words!"

Liu Wei's face also became serious, "Before the 1970s, African savannah elephants began to suffer from human destruction. At that time, African indigenous residents mostly hunted and killed the huge savannah elephants as food. , a large number of elephants died in the traps and gunpoints of the indigenous people. They only took the elephant meat and skin to eat and make simple daily necessities respectively.

It was only after the 1970s that the ivory market began to rise, and the international craft market began to purchase large quantities of ivory. After that, the indigenous people not only killed elephants for their meat and skins, but also took the ivory to make money.

We know that the male African savannah elephant has the longest tusks among all elephants. When ivory was treated as a gold bar, it became the first target of human hunting.

I remember when we were popularizing science about Asian elephants, we talked about a question: Will elephants that lose their tusks definitely die?

The answer is not absolute. The ivory we see with the naked eye is only a part of the entire ivory length. The thickest one-third is on its head. Poachers often covet this part of the ivory, so they often hunt grassland elephants. Finally, he directly cut off its entire head and took away the inner part, which is extremely cruel! "

"Fuck, I can't stand listening anymore!"

"Is this something done by humans?"

"Sad!"

"This kind of person must be sentenced to death!"

Liu Wei continued: "In fact, the tusks of African elephants grow throughout their lives. The exposed part is mainly composed of enamel. There are no nerves and blood vessels in it. If you just saw off the exposed part of the ivory, it will not endanger you." Elephant life.

You should have seen in many documentaries an elephant whose ivory has been broken off. Its health is not affected, but it will be weaker than its peers when competing for mate rights.

Moreover, the elephant's tusks also help them eat. A broken ivory will directly affect the elephant's eating, and it may not be able to eat enough during the dry season when food is scarce.

Often such elephants will become thinner and die alone. "

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

If the entire ivory of an elephant is taken out, the elephant will definitely die.

Therefore, as long as the elephant is concerned about poaching, it will basically not survive. "

"Human hunting is an elephant's nightmare!"

"Ivory products are not our necessities. Killing them for an unnecessary thing? How cruel!"

“Ivory products are so popular in the market, especially among rich people!”

"No profit leads to no extinction!"

“I watched a documentary about the slaughter of African elephants. It was shocking!”

Liu Wei concluded: “Elephants are an important part of the entire earth’s ecology, and we should not treat them with an attitude of unlimited demands.

my country has completely banned the ivory trade in 2017. Selling or purchasing ivory is punishable by up to ten years in prison.

However, the funniest thing is that some developed countries are telling lies and saying that China is the largest ivory trading market. 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. ! "

"Bah~, shameless!"

"Habitually infiltrate China!"

"His uncle, he really thinks we are still China a hundred years ago!"