African elephants stand 11 tall at the shoulders and weight upwards of 13,000 lbs. Their large ears help to radiate heat under the hot sun and flapping their ears is a form of communication of fear and joy with other elephants. Tusks (which are modified teeth) grow on both males and females. Like humans who lose their baby teeth, baby elephants lose their tusks when a year old and grow adult ones. Another elephant species include the Asian elephant of Southeast Asia. You don’t really appreciate how large these creatures are until you see them up close. (These pictures were photographed at Tampa’s Lowery Park Zoo.)