There are two main reasons why an elephant’s ears are so large. The first reason is for hearing. Elephants can often be a long way from one another in the wild and when they want to tune in to something that is happening a distance away, they turn towards the sound. Then, they open their ears wide and this helps ‘catch’ the sound. The other reason is that the ears help them cool down. When an elephant feels itself getting too hot, it pumps blood into its ears and waggles its ears. This cools the blood and the elephant.
Why do elephants have long ears?
