#matriach

Elephants have six sets of chewing #teeth that cycle through their mouth over the course of their lives, with older ones being pushed out by the new ones growing in. This means that old #elephants must use their last, worn set of molars to eat for the last years of their lives. As a result, elderly elephants fare better in human care - where we can modify their diet to accommodate their dental needs - than they do in the wild.

Ambika, a 71 year old elephant at the National Zoo, is the third-oldest Asian elephant in North America. In this photo, her keepers hand-feed her soft and pre-ground foods so that she doesn’t have to chew solids with her last set of molars.

#asianelephant #elephants #askmeaboutelephants #elephantcare #zoo #zooanimals #animalwelfare #matriach #goldengirl (at Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute)
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