You can learn a lot about an elephant from its tusks. Evolved from incisor teeth, tusks first appear around the age of two and continue growing throughout an elephant’s life. It’s not fail-safe, as each individual has truly unique set, but you can often gauge an elephant’s age by the length of their tusks. Bulls typically have larger and thicker ivory than females. They’re also a very important accessory: Elephants use their tusks to uproot vegetation, prise bark off trees, dig for water, lift object, and defend themselves. Just like us, elephants are right- or left-tusked, so you’ll often notice that the dominant one has more wear and tear. We would hazard a guess that this chap is a leftie — or he was unlucky in a fight! Most importantly, tusks belong on an elephant. Not so long ago, one elephant was killed every 15 minutes for its ivory. While field-level conservation and international attention has seen a marked decline in ivory poaching, it is an threat we must always remain vigilant about. To learn more about our work to protect elephants and their most valuable accessory, tap our link in bio (‘Our Conservation Projects’) 🐘 —— Video © Sheldrick Wildlife Trust #SheldrickTrust #SWT #wildlife #bull #ivory #animalfacts #elephant #wild #tusks