Elephants

Species

There are 2 species of African elephants:

Loxodonta africans
Loxodonta cyclotis

African bush (savanna) elephant
African forest elephant

Population

Before Europeans colonised Africa, there were thought to have been around 26 million elephants. Hunting of elephants for their tusks (ivory) saw number drop to only 1.3 million in the 1970s. Only about 415,000 remain now. Elephants have a slow reproduction rate, which hinders their population growth. According to the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), the reproduction rate is 5-6% but annually, 8-9% of the population is lost to poaching.
The African bush elephant is classified as endangered and the African forest elephant is critically endangered.

Size

African elephants are bigger is size and have bigger ears than Asian elephants.
African elephants are between 2.5 and 4 metres tall and can weigh 2,260 to 6,350 kg. Forest elephants are slightly smaller than bush elephants.

Habitat & distribution

African bush elephants are found in sub-Saharan plains, whereas the forest elephants are found in Central and West Africa. They like open and closed savanna (treeless plains), grasslands and arid deserts.

Elephant are Ecosystem Engineers or Keystone Species

They shape the habitat:
~ during the dry season, they create watering holes with their tusks that other animals can use
~ their dung is full of seeds so they are important for seed dispersal. 30% of Central African trees rely on
elephants to spread their seeds. Dung is an important habitat for dung beetles.
~ forest elephants clear tress for other animal to move through
~ bush elephants uproot trees to keep the plains open for other species such as zebra.

Diet

Elephants are herbivores (roots, grass, fruit and bark). An adult can eat 136kg of food per day!

Interesting facts

An elephant's tusks are upper incisor teeth that continually grow. In a bush elephant, the tusks curve outwards. Forest elephants have straight tusks.
40,000 muscles - that's how many are in an elephant's trunk. This multi-purpose proboscis is used for breathing, smelling, trumpeting, grabbing, showing affection and for drawing up water to drink or for drawing up water or dirt to cover themselves with.

Group

Elephants live in herds led by a matriarch, usually the biggest and oldest female. The herd is comprised of other female (cows) and their young (calves). Adult males (bulls) often live alone or in smaller herds.

Breeding & lifespan

The gestation period for an elephant in 22 months! A newborn elephant (calf) can weigh 90kg and be 90cm tall.
In the wild, elephants can live to 70 years.

Predators & threats

Humans are the most serious threat to elephants, including poaching and encroaching on their habitat.