AFRICAN ELEPHANT

WATCH ELEPHANT 101 

As the world's largest land mammal, elephants have quite the commanding presence. But did you know elephants can't jump? Or that baby elephants lose their first set of teeth and tusks, just like humans? Learn about both Asian and African elephants and the threats facing these highly intelligent animals today.

1 / 2

VIEW IMAGES

An African elephant photographed at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, ColoradoPHOTOGRAPH BY Armando babu from Arusha Tanzania

An African elephant photographed at Indianapolis Zoo in IndianaPHOTOGRAPH BY JOEL SARTORE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PHOTO ARK

COMMON NAME: African Elephant

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Loxodonta africana

TYPE: Mammals

DIET: Herbivores

GROUP NAME: Herd

AVERAGE LIFE SPAN IN THE WILD: Up to 70 years

SIZE: Height at the shoulder, 8.2 to 13 ft

WEIGHT: 2.5 to 7 tons

SIZE RELATIVE TO A 6-FT MAN:

IUCN RED LIST STATUS:?

Vulnerable

LC

NT

VU

EN

CR

EW

EX

LEAST CONCERNEXTINCT

CURRENT POPULATION TREND: Increasing 

---

ABOUT THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT

African elephants are the largest land animals on Earth. They are slightly larger than their Asian cousins and can be identified by their larger ears that look somewhat like the continent of Africa. (Asian elephants have smaller, rounded ears.)

Trunks and Tusks

Elephant ears radiate heat to help keep these large animals cool, but sometimes the African heat is too much. Elephants are fond of water and enjoy showering by sucking water into their trunks and spraying it all over themselves. Afterwards, they often spray their skin with a protective coating of dust.

An elephant's trunk is actually a long nose used for smelling, breathing, trumpeting, drinking, and also for grabbing things—especially a potential meal. The trunk alone contains about 100,000 different muscles. African elephants have two fingerlike features on the end of their trunk that they can use to grab small items. (Asian elephants have one.)

Both male and female African elephants have tusks they use to dig for food and water and strip bark from trees. Males use the tusks to battle one another, but the ivory has also attracted violence of a far more dangerous sort.

Because ivory is so valuable to some humans, many elephants have been killed for their tusks. This trade is illegal today, but it has not been completely eliminated, and some African elephant populations remain endangered.

Diet

Elephants eat roots, grasses, fruit, and bark, and they eat a lot of these things. An adult elephant can consume up to 300 pounds of food in a single day.

These hungry animals do not sleep much, and they roam over great distances while foraging for the large quantities of food that they require to sustain their massive bodies.

Herds and Habitat

Female elephants (cows) live in family herds with their young, but adult males (bulls) tend to roam on their own.

Having a baby elephant is a serious commitment. Elephants have a longer pregnancy than any other mammal—almost 22 months. Cows usually give birth to one calf every two to four years. At birth, elephants already weigh some 200 pounds and stand about 3 feet tall.

African elephants, unlike their Asian relatives, are not easily domesticated. They range throughout sub-Saharan Africa and the rain forests of central and West Africa. The continent’s northernmost elephants are found in Mali’s Sahel desert. The small, nomadic herd of Mali elephants migrates in a circular route through the desert in search of water.

---

DID YOU KNOW?

Elephants can recognize themselves—something very few animals are known to do.

TWEET THIS 

Elephants make powerful low-frequency rumblings to communicate over long distances.

TWEET THIS 

Baby elephants are dependent on their mothers’ milk for the first 2 years of life.

TWEET THIS 

Elephants are the largest land animals.

TWEET THIS 

Structures in the elephant brain are strikingly similar to those in humans.

TWEET THIS 

After a death, elephant family members show signs of grief.

TWEET THIS 

Elephants may revisit the bones of the deceased for years, touching them with their trunks.

TWEET THIS 

Mud baths protect elephants from the sun and clean their skin of bugs and ticks.

TWEET THIS 

1 / 8

---

0:00

|

3:04

WATCH: WILD ELEPHANTS “MOURN” THEIR DEAD After the death of their matriarch, wild elephants in northern Kenya continue to visit her remains and display unique behaviours seen only in their species.

These photos were taken by Alvin YR photographers. Join now to share your images, take part in story assignments, and get helpful feedback.

1 / 20

To view a caption from the photographer, click on the credit below.
PHOTOGRAPH BY ARMANDO BABU, EDUCATIONAL