African Elephant

African Elephant

Learn all about the huge African elephant, wow your friends with some fascinating facts, read about how big they really are, where they live, how they spend their day and what they eat. Understand what makes these creatures so important and why they are threatened.

The largest animal walking on Earth!

Elephants are smart, emotional, self-aware, and highly social creatures, they are also the largest land animals on Earth. They are slightly larger than Asian elephants and can be identified by their larger ears that are shaped a little like the continent of Africa.

There are two subspecies of African elephants; the Savanna (or bush) elephant and the Forest elephant. Savanna elephants are larger than Forest elephants, and their tusks curve outwards whereas Forest elephants are darker and their tusks are straighter and point downwards.

Elephants can be immediately recognised by their trunk which is a fusion of their nose and upper lip; it contains 100,000 muscles and no bones. The trunk is used for smelling, breathing, trumpeting and drinking. African elephants have two finger like features at the end of their trunk that they can use to grab things.  

Both male and female African elephants have tusks which they use to dig for food and water and strip bark from trees. Males also use their tusks to battle one another. Elephant tusks never stop growing, so enormous tusks can be a sign of old age. However, some elephants are now born without tusks and for those with tusks they are much smaller than in the past - the average size has halved in the last 100 years. 

African elephants use their huge ears to radiate heat to help keep them cool, they also enjoy showering by sucking water into their trunks and spraying it all over themselves. They will often spray mud over themselves to protect them from the hot African sun and to clear any bugs off of their skin.

Where do African elephants live?

African elephants can be found in 37 countries in throughout Africa; throughout sub-Saharan Africa and the rainforests of central and West Africa and reaching Mali’s Sahel desert in the north.

Elephants are not territorial but they do need huge amounts of food, water and space to survive. An individuals home range varies from population to population but is estimated to be between 15 and 3,700 square kilometres. 

How do elephants spend their day? 

African elephants are well known for living in close social groups or ‘herds’ of females (cows) and their calves, the group is led by a dominant matriarch. The male (bull) elephants tend to roam on their own.

Elephants continue to grow throughout their lives which means that the biggest elephant in a herd may well be the oldest. African elephants have a lifespan of up to 70 years in the wild. 

Elephants have a longer pregnancy than any other mammal, almost 22 months and usually give birth to one calf every two to four years. At birth, elephants stand just under a metre tall and already weigh over 90kg, heavier than most adult men! A baby elephant or ‘calf’ will feed on its mothers’ milk for the first two years of its life. 

As well as being huge, elephants are thought to be one of the most intelligent animals on the planet and also have amazing long-term memories. One scientific study concluded that a group of older elephants had remembered a drought that had occurred 30 years previously. Elephants also appear to show empathy towards one another and even mourn their dead. 

Elephants, particularly males can be dangerous and show signs of aggression.

What do African elephants eat?

Elephants are herbivores and eat a wide variety of grasses, herbs, fruits, plants and trees. Due to their huge size, elephants need an awful lot of food and can consume over 150kg of food a day - that’s over 50 tonnes a year! Elephants do not sleep much, but roam over great distances to find the large quantities of food that they need. Elephants can deposit more than 150kg of dung everyday!

Why are African elephants so important?

African elephants are incredibly important to the ecosystem in which they live and are known as a ‘keystone’ species – so other species are reliant on them. 

Elephants play a pivotal role in shaping their habitat because of the enormous impact they have, by creating clearings and gaps in the forests. This can allow more sunlight into a previously dark forest or create an environment favourable to other animals.

The seeds of many plant species need to be digested by an elephant before they will germinate. It is suggested that at least a third of tree species in central African forests rely on elephants for seed distribution in this way.

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  • Type

    Mammal

  • Population

    415,000

  • Lifespan

    Up to 70 years in the wild

  • Weight

    Up to 5,500 kg

  • Length

    Up to 7.5 metres

  • Conservation status

    Vulnerable

Amazing facts

  1. Elephants can walk over 100 miles per day, they can also run much faster than humans, reaching speeds of 40 mph.
  2. The largest elephant ever recorded was 3.96 metres tall and weighed 10,400 kg.
  3. The elephants wrinkly skin helps to keep them cool as all the cracks and crevices trap moisture which then takes much longer to evaporate.
  4. The word “elephant” is latin for “huge arch”.
  5. Elephants are known to use one tusk more than the other, just like humans are right or left handed.
  6. Elephants produce enough methane each day to power a car for 20 miles.
  7. The ears of an African elephants also help to keep them cool by acting as big fans, they can grow up to 1.5 metres long.
  8. After a death, elephant family members show signs of grief and they may visit the bones of the deceased elephant for many years.
  9. Elephants are known for their incredible memory. The matriarch of the herd will remember trails and watering holes as well as how to navigate the seasons.
  10. Elephants can recognise themselves in mirrors, something that very few animals are known to do.

Threats

In the last century, there was between three and five million elephants roaming throughout Africa, however numbers have fallen dramatically due to the ivory trade and habitat loss. 

In the 1980s, an estimated 100,000 elephants were killed each year and in some areas up to 80% of herds were lost. The ban on international trade in ivory was introduced in 1989 by CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) and this allowed some populations to recover. Today, there is an estimated 415,000 elephants left in Africa and the species is classified as ‘vulnerable’ by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature. 

Some populations of African elephants are increasing, however numbers are continuing to fall in other areas including central Africa and parts of East Africa. Today, the most urgent threat to elephants is still poaching. Other threats include conflict with humans and habitat loss.

Illegal wildlife trade: 

Despite the ban on international trade in ivory, there has been a surge in poaching in recent years. Tens of thousands of elephants are being killed every year for their tusks. This is being fuelled by the demand, particularly from Asia for ivory products including ornaments and jewellery. 

Habitat loss: 

Due to expanding human populations, more land is being converted to agriculture meaning more elephant habitats are being lost or becoming fragmented.

Conflict with humans:

As elephant habitats continue to shrink, they are increasingly coming into contact with human populations. Elephants may raid farmland, destroying crops, causing considerable conflict with the local communities.

Conservation status