African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) are the world's largest land animals, characterized by huge ears (for cooling), long trunks (with two finger-like tips for grasping), and large, curving tusks (on both sexes). These highly social, intelligent herbivores eat massive amounts of vegetation, live in matriarchal family groups, and play crucial roles in shaping their diverse habitats, from grasslands to deserts, though they are listed as Endangered due to poaching and habitat loss.
Size & Appearance
Largest Land Mammal: Up to 13 feet tall and weighing up to 7 tons (11 tons for large males).
Ears: Large, fan-shaped ears help radiate heat.
Trunk: Contains thousands of muscles, used for breathing, smelling, drinking, and grabbing.
Tusks: Both males and females grow tusks that curve outwards, unlike forest elephants.
Social Behavior & Life
Matriarchal: Live in family units led by the oldest female (matriarch).
Males: Bulls leave the family around puberty and often live solitary lives or in bachelor groups.
Lifespan: Can live up to 60-70 years in the wild.
Diet & Habitat
Diet: Herbivores, eating grasses, leaves, bark, roots, and fruits; need about 350 lbs of food daily.
Habitat: Found across diverse African landscapes, including savannas, woodlands, and even deserts.
Ecological Role & Threats
Keystone Species: Their feeding and movement help maintain habitats, disperse seeds, and create waterholes for other animals.
Conservation: Listed as Endangered, facing threats from poaching (ivory trade) and human-elephant conflict.
The African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana), also known as the African bush elephant, is the largest land animal on Earth and is classified as Endangered by the IUCN.
Here are key facts about this remarkable species:
Physical Characteristics
Size: Adult males can stand up to 10–13 feet (3–4 meters) tall at the shoulder and weigh as much as 7 tons (14,000 pounds).
Trunk: The trunk is an elongated nose and upper lip, a highly sensitive and strong appendage with around 40,000 to 60,000 muscles that can lift hundreds of pounds yet also manipulate small objects.
Ears: Their large, continent-shaped ears are covered in blood vessels and are used to radiate excess heat, helping them stay cool in the hot African climate.
Tusks: Both males and females have tusks, which are actually enlarged incisor teeth that grow continuously throughout their lives. They are used for defense, foraging, and digging for water.
Diet and Habitat
Habitat: They are found across sub-Saharan Africa, in a variety of open habitats including grasslands, savannas, woodlands, and even some deserts.
Diet: As herbivores, they spend a large part of their day foraging, eating up to 350 pounds (150 kg) of vegetation daily, including grasses, leaves, bark, fruit, and roots.
Ecosystem Engineers: Elephants play a critical role in their environment. By reducing tree densities, they help maintain open savannas and create water holes by digging in dry riverbeds, benefiting many other species.
Behavior and Social Structure
Social Life: Elephants are highly social animals that live in complex, matriarchal family units consisting of related females and their young.
Matriarchs: Herds are led by the oldest and often wisest female, the matriarch, who uses her long-term memory to guide the group to food and water sources.
Communication: They communicate using a variety of low-frequency sounds (infrasound) that can travel over long distances, as well as body language and touch.
Intelligence: Elephants possess a highly developed brain, the largest of any land mammal, and exhibit behaviors associated with self-awareness, empathy, grief, and play.
Reproduction: They have the longest gestation period of any mammal, lasting 22 months. Calves are protected and raised by the entire herd in a practice called allomothering.
Conservation Status and Threats
Lifespan: In the wild, African savanna elephants can live for up to 60-70 years.
Status: The species is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
Major Threats: The primary threats are illegal poaching for their ivory tusks and habitat loss due to expanding human populations and agriculture, which often leads to human-elephant conflict.