General Knowledge Questions Amazing facts

The world's tallest animal is a giraffe and the world's known tallest man is Robert Pershing Wadlow. The giraffe is 5.49m (18 ft.), the man is 2.55m (8ft. 11.1 in.).

The world's tallest woman is Sandy Allen. She is 2.35m (7 ft. 7 in.).

The giant who fought David in the Bible was 2.97m (9ft. 9in.) tall.

The oldest man to reach the Everest (8848 m), the world's highest peak is a venezuelan. He is Ramón Blanco and he did it in september 1993, he was 60 years old.

Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Towers hold the title of the tallest buildings in the world. Both the towers reach a total height of 1,483 feet (452 meters) measured from the ground to the tip of the masts. Is has 29 double-deck passenger elevators in each tower and a total of 76 lifts serve the towers. Each tower has 2 million square feet of office area equal to 48 football fields.

What do elephants eat?

Elephants are plant-eaters. Because they are such big animals, they need to eat large amounts of leaves, grass and tree bark. They spend as much as twenty hours a day eating! A full-grown African elephant can weigh more than 10,000 pounds!



Elephants have four teeth and two "tusks." The tusks are the long horn-like parts that come out the sides of their mouths. These tusks grow about seven inches a year, and can get up to twenty feet long! The tusks are made of ivory, which is very valuable.

The elephants four teeth are molars. About every four years, the molars fall out and are replaced by new ones. The molars of an adult elephant can be up to ten inches long!





The ears of a full-grown African elephant are about five to six feet long and four feet wide. They sometimes flap their ears to cool themselves.

An elephant's trunk is actually part nose and part upper lip. Elephants can breathe through their trunks. They can also smell and pick up things with it. They can use it to put food into their mouths, and can even spray water with it! The trunk is used to feel things, too!





When it is hot, elephants like to get into water and mud. They also use their trunks to spray water and dust on their bodies. Wrinkles on their skin trap the water and help with the cooling.

How do elephants talk?

Elephants talk to each other by making sounds called "tummy rumbles." They also make a "trumpeting" sound to call to each other.



Elephants can live as long as eighty years!

You can see elephants in zoos. Many zoos work hard to keep the elephants happy, by providing them with the kind of habitat they would have if they were out in the wild.




A great number of elephants have been shot so people could get their ivory tusks. People all over the world have tried to stop this cruel killing of elephants. Now, very few are killed for their ivory, and there are laws to protect the elephants.

In the past, many elephants were trained to perform tricks for circuses. They were often treated in a cruel manner. Today, there are laws to protect elephants and to ensure they are well-cared for.

Elephants should be treasured. They are the gentle giants of the animal kingdom![/right][/size]