What’s it like caring for a 1,400 pound teething baby elephant

October 2nd, 2008 • Related • Filed Under

Baby elephant Scotty has his first tusk

The Louisville Zoo’s 18-month-old baby African elephant Scotty just reached another milestone—he is teething!

Scotty’s right tusk has poked through and the other one is on the way.

“He is doing great,” Louisville Zoo Elephant Area Supervisor Dave Campbell said. “But sometimes it is a sensitive area for him.”

Campbell and the other elephant keepers are giving him extra special care and keeping the tiny tusk clean by washing it with water every day.

“No Crest or Colgate, though,” Campbell quipped.

Since Scotty’s tusks are just beginning to grow, visitors won’t be able to see them for awhile.

DID YOU KNOW?

Tusks are fundamentally no different than ordinary teeth.
Tusks are actually upper incisors, not canines. They are the elephant’s only incisors.
Elephants use tusks for digging, ripping of bark, foraging, resting a heavy trunk and as weapons.
Both African elephant males and females have tusks, but only the Asian male elephants have tusks that protrude beyond the lips.
Elephants often use one tusk more than the other ( i.e. the parallel in humans is right handed and left handed people)
Tusks begin to protrude beyond the lips of an elephant at around 2-3 years of age, and will continue to grow throughout its life. The growth rate of tusks is approximately 15-18 centimeters per year.
Elephants normally go through six sets of molars during their lifetime. When older molars get worn-out, they are replaced horizontally with new ones.