Some elephants have only one tusk; they are either born that way or lose a tusk at some point during their lives. Elephants can go up to four days without water but they can also use their trunks and tusks to dig wells if necessary. Elephant tusks do not grow back, but rhino horns do. The tusks on elephants can be used for many purposes. They also use loud noises to scare away threats. People used to hunt elephants so that they could get their tusks… The answer? Just as human babies passify themselves between feedings by sucking on their tiny thumbs, elephant youngsters do the same with their little trunks. The tusks grow to the right and the left sides of their trunks. The ivory itself is used to make a variety of items that are typically used to show affluence, wealth or importance. A lot of the smuggled ivory is used to make carvings like these: Some are also, more rarely used in scrimshaw, which is usually done on whale ivory. African elephants will use their tusks as a defense mechanism against other wildlife predators or when another elephant charges toward them. Elephants use their trunks and their tusks to protect themselves from predators. Elephants Born without Tusks Reports that elephants are being born without tusks thanks to the long term effects of ivory poaching are true, but do … What do African elephants use their tusks for? Elephants can use their tusks to fight and to dig. A resourceful elephant creates a new waterhole An elephant drinks from a self-made waterhole in the Satara area of the Kruger National Park. Elephant tusks are used for obtaining ivory, a hard, white substance that can be found only in the tusks and teeth of certain mammals. In fact, a broken tusk, which is common, can lead to a life-threatening infection. Humans poach the massive animals for their ivory tusks, which are very valuable in some cultures. But poachers use darts, poison and high-powered automatic rifles with night scopes to take elephants down and, while they are dying, the tusks are gouged out of from the living elephant's skull. An elephant's tusks are actually its teeth — its incisors, to be exact. African elephant tusks are mainly used for protection, digging, lifting objects, and gathering food. Let me start by saying that tusks are basically outward teeth (incisors to be specific), there is more of the tusk that you cannot see because it is under the skin. Elephants use their tusks for a variety of reasons: to strip bark off trees to chew and eat, dig holes for water and minerals including salt, and dig up or lift things such as trees and branches. False! Adult elephants have very few predators, except humans, due to their massive size and superior strength. It's rare to see a tuskless male elephant because in the absence of poaching, males naturally grow larger tusks, since they use them more. Elephants aren't born knowing all the wonderful ways that their trunks can be used, but youngsters do make the most of it in another adorable way. Tusks can be important tools for elephants.