Birth, aging, sickness and death are natural laws that all living things cannot circumvent. It is very difficult for wild animals to live to death from old age. Death from injury, infection or being eaten is the more common outcome.

For some very large animals, although the possibility of being eaten as adults is relatively low, it seems difficult to die of old age. Elephants are such an animal. In the wild, except for poaching, elephants that die of natural causes mainly die of unexpected causes: starvation.

Humans and elephants are extremely different in many ways. They are similar, for example, they are both social animals and have similar life spans. Theoretically, the lifespan of an elephant is 70 years, but few elephants live to this age. They do not die from various diseases like humans, but mostly from starvation.

This is due to their special teeth. The teeth mentioned here are not the “ivory” favored by poachers. In fact, elephants’ tusks are their upper incisors. Although many elephants die because of these two beautiful incisors, some elephants die naturally because of their other kind of teeth - molars.

Among mammals, elephants have very special teeth. Almost all mammals have only three sets of molars. Adult teeth cannot be replaced and grow out in a manner similar to the tips of bamboo shoots.

But the elephant’s is different. Elephants have no canines, only incisors and 6 sets of molars. However, their upper and lower jaws are relatively short and cannot accommodate 6 sets (24 in total) of molars at the same time, so these 6 sets of molars appear sequentially. An elephant's molars are like a conveyor belt, gradually moving forward from the back of the mouth.

We all know that most mammals have three sets of molars and grow like bamboo shoots, but elephants have six sets of molars and grow more like a conveyor belt.

Elephants' deciduous teeth appear at 2 years old As the elephant ages, the set of molars begins to be replaced, and the last set of molars appears when the elephant is about 30 years old.

According to expert analysis, although the lifespan of elephants is similar to that of humans, their skeletal maturity age is much longer than that of humans. It is about the same time that the sixth set of molars appears. In other words, elephants are in their 30s. , the skeletal age reaches the mature stage.

Then the question arises. Assuming that an elephant develops its sixth set of molars at the age of 30, and it is the last set of molars, then based on the average elephant life span of 70 years, this set of molars will take 40 years.

Elephants are the largest animals on land. Some African elephants can weigh up to 8 tons, and elephants are herbivores. This means that if elephants want to survive, they need to eat frantically every day. When it comes to eating, scientists have observed that elephants eat for more than 15 hours a day and eat 300 kilograms of food and 150 liters of water in a single day.

In the wild, elephants will eat a lot of bark and thorns. These difficult-to-chew foods will wear down the elephant’s last set of teeth, so in short, it is impossible for the elephant’s sixth set of molars to be used. 40 years, maybe 10 to 20 years. In other words, starting from the age of 40, elephants will face hunger and slowly starve to death.

Nowadays, many zoos, in order to extend the life of elephants, start feeding semi-liquid food to elephants when their last set of molars appear. The purpose is to reduce the wear and tear of food on the elephant’s molars. Extend its life in disguise.

Seeing this, I have to sigh at the magic of nature, and also deeply feel the cruelty of nature.