African Savannah Elephant

Conservation Status:
Threatened - USFWS
CITES Appendix 1
SSP

Description:
African elephants are the largest living land animals in the world.  Males can weigh up to 13,800 pounds, and females can weigh up to 8,000 pounds.  Their height can be almost 11 feet (males) or 8 feet (females).  Their skin is pale gray, but they look like the color of the soil they live on, since they are usually covered with dust and mud.  Their large ears are shaped like the African continent.  Both males and females have tusks.  Their long trunk has two finger-like projections that can pick up something as delicate as an egg.

Range:
Isolated, protected parts of sub-Saharan Africa

Habitat:
Grassland

Diet:
In the wild, they eat grass, leaves, and branches.  In the zoo, our elephants eat lots of fruits and vegetables, a grass called brome, high protein elephant supplement, browse (fresh branches with leaves), and bread.

Life Cycle:
Gestation is 22 months.  Most baby elephants are born at the beginning of the rainy season, when there is plenty of vegetation.  Usually only one baby is born at a time, but twins are possible.  Newborns weigh 200-250 pounds.  They can stand up after a ½ hour, and within two days, they can follow the herd.  They reach adulthood when they are about 20 years old.  Females stay with their mother’s herd, which includes a matriarch (a dominant female), other adult females, and calves. Males leave the herd to live alone or in bachelor herds with other young males.  Elephants can live up to 80 years, but very few live beyond 50.

Did You Know?

·        There are many differences between African and Asian elephants.  African elephants have much larger ears than Asian elephants.  African elephants have two “fingers” on the tip of their trunk, while Asian elephants only have one.  And both male and female African elephants have tusks, while only male Asian elephants have them.

·        Elephants are very important to the ecology of the savannah.  They eat many different kinds of vegetation.  They push over trees to get to the branches and roots, helping to maintain the savannah as a grassland.  They use their tusks and trunks to dig for water, creating wells that many other animals need to survive.

·        Elephants have a complex social structure.  When a member of the herd dies, they cover the body with grass and dirt, and stay near the grave for several hours.

·        Most elephants live in herds of 10-20 individuals, but larger groups of more than 100 elephants can form when there is enough vegetation.

·        Elephants are protected by laws, but poachers (illegal hunters) still kill elephants for their ivory tusks, which can be sold at high prices in illegal markets.

·        Elephants are an “umbrella species” of Africa .  They need lots of space to find their food and water.  If we can save enough habitat to protect the elephants, then many other animals will also be protected there.

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