African bush elephant

African bush elephant, (Loxodonta africana), one of two living species of African elephants (genus Loxodonta) and the largest of all living elephant species. The African bush elephant is also Earth’s largest living land animal, and it is one of the world’s most famous, being renowned globally for its elongated nose (“trunk”), long tusks, and large sail-shaped ears. The African bush elephant is considered one of Africa’s “Big Five” animals with which the continent is associated. Once found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, the effects of poaching and habitat loss have caused the animal’s numbers and geographic range to decline to the point where conservation organizations have classified it as an endangered species. At present the African bush elephant resides in pockets scattered across 23 African countries in habitats that range from savannas and forests to deserts.

Natural history

Male bush elephants often grow as tall as 3.2–4 metres (10.5–13.1 feet) at the shoulder and weigh up to between 4,500 and 6,100 kg (between about 9,900 and 13,500 pounds; 5–6.7 tons), with the largest known bush elephant weighing 10,886 kg (24,000 pounds; 12 tons). Males, on average, are more than 20 percent taller than and nearly twice as heavy as females. To sustain themselves, these animals require 149–169 kg (330–375 pounds) of food and up to 190 litres (about 50 gallons) of water per day. A savanna elephant’s food consists of grass, plants, fruit, twigs, roots, and tree bark. This diet must be supplemented with minerals, particularly salt, due to an insufficient amount of sodium in their other foods. Some of this sodium can be found in certain watering holes rich in the chemical element, but the rest is obtained through geophagy (eating soil).

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On a hot day, an elephant might use its trunk to spray water onto its back to cool down or travel to watering holes to bathe in the water or mud; however, the African bush elephant relies primarily on its ears to dissipate heat. The ears can be up to 1.8 metres (about 6 feet) long and 1.2 metres (4 feet) wide, and they hold large blood vessels. Blood that passes through these vessels cools down before recirculating through the rest of the body, which, in turn, cools the rest of the elephant. Elephants lack large concentrations of sweat glands, although they have a few, occurring only in the feet, which do contribute slightly to cooling.

The fundamental building block of the savanna elephant herd is the family unit, which may comprise up to 70 animals. There are no adult males (“bulls”) in these families; they only associate with females for mating. The oldest and typically largest female elephant (“cow”) is the leader, called a matriarch. Pregnancies take 22 months, the longest gestation period of any mammal, and usually result in one calf, which is raised and protected by the entire herd. If the calf is male, it will leave the family unit at about 14 years of age to either live singly or with a herd of other young bulls (see also elephant: Reproduction and life cycle).

Classification and conservation status

The species L. africana encompassed all African elephants until the beginning of the 21st century. Between 2000 and 2010, however, scientists began to recognize two separate species of African elephants, the African bush elephant (L. africana) and the African forest elephant (L. cyclotis). While these two animals have much more in common with each other than they do with Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), there are several physical differences, in addition to genetic differences, that set them apart from one another. Bush elephants have larger ears that are more pointed and less oval-shaped than those of forest elephants. The tusks of bush elephants curve outward, whereas those of forest elephants are straighter and point down.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources has classified the African bush elephant as an endangered species since 2020. Previous assessments in 2004 and 2008, which did not distinguish between African bush and forest elephant species, classified African elephants as a vulnerable species. Since the 1970s, poaching has remained the primary threat to the species, since the animal is often hunted for its ivory tusks. Habitat loss stemming from changing land use and land cover also remains a significant threat in many parts of their range.