An elephant's trunk is one of the most amazing tools in the animal kingdom. It is actually a nose and upper lip joined together, containing about 100,000 different muscles. Elephants use their trunks to pick up objects as large as a tree log and as small as a single peanut. They also use them to make deep rumbling calls that can travel several kilometres through the ground.
Elephants live in family groups led by the oldest and wisest female, called the matriarch. She remembers where to find water holes during dry seasons, using knowledge built up over a lifetime. Young elephants stay close to their mothers and aunts, and the whole family helps to look after the calves.
The big fan-shaped ears of an African elephant are not just for hearing — they also work as a cooling system. Blood flows through a network of vessels close to the skin surface of the ears. When the elephant flaps its ears, the moving air cools the blood down before it travels back through the body.
In Burkina Faso, elephants can be found in Arli National Park and in the W National Park, which crosses the borders of Burkina Faso, Benin and Niger. Protecting large open spaces for elephants to move freely is very important, because they need to travel long distances to find enough food and water each day.