While the blue whale is the largest animal in the ocean, the African elephant is the biggest land animal. The African elephant can live as long as 70 years, can stand as high as 13 feet in the shoulder and weigh as much as 14,000 pounds. They are perhaps among the cleanest animals on the planet, as National Geographic notes that the animal enjoys a good trunk shower, "often spray(ing) its skin with a protective coating of dust." Like the blue whale, its existence on Earth is threatened.