African Elephant/Loxodonta africana:
The African elephant is the largest and most powerful of all living land mammals. It is also one of the most gentle and social of all animals, living in peaceful family units. The African Elephant occurs as two subspecies: The Savanna Elephant L. a. africana, and the smaller Forest Elephant L. a. cyclotis.

Size:The size of the African elephant usually depends on its subspecies. A bull ( male) of a Forest Elephant has a shoulder height of 160 to 286cm in males, while the females are slightly smaller witha height of 160 to 240cm.

The size of a Savannah Elephant is a little bigger and males have a shoulder height of 300 to 400cm while females are roughly 240 to 340cm.

However, both subspecies of the African elephant usually share the same length of about 600 and 750cm. The African elephant has tail with a length of 100 to 150cm.

Weight: Bulls weigh approximately 4000- 6300kg, the cows relatively less at 2400 –4000kg.

Distribution: The African elephant is found in almost all habitats including savannah, rain forest, swamps, deserts, seashores and high mountains. The elephant is still relatively widely distributed, though fragmented, ranging from the south of the Sahara desert. In the past, African elephants were found throughout Africa.

Appearance: Besides its greater size, it differs from the Asian elephant in having larger ears ( used as fans to create a stream of air over the elephant's body) and tusks, a sloping forehead, and two "fingers" at the tip of its trunk, compared to only one in the Asian species.In both sexes, the two incisor teeth of the upper jaw grow to form tusks, and it is for this ivory, used at one time in the manufacture of piano keys, billiard balls, and other objects, that hunters have slaughtered thousands of these magnificent animals.

There is also something special about the teeth of the African elephant. There are only 4-1 in each quarter of the jaw. Each one is 30cm long and is usually replaced 6 times. Soft soles are also present to act as cushions to enable the elephant to carry its great weight almost noiselessly.

Behavior: The African Elephant is gregarious, sometimes being found in herds of hundreds or even thousands of individuals. They live in herds based on breeding groups of females and young. Cows and calves live in family units, underathe leadership of a mature cow to whom every group member is related.A young bull is driven out when he is sexually mature and joins other young males to form bachelor herds. Adult bulls live alon e and join a family unit only briefly when a female is ready to mate.

Although an African elephant herd may wander great distances, it neverr moves far from water. It needs this not only for drinking, but also for bathing which it likes to do every evening.

After bathing, the African elephant ‘dusts’ its wet skin with dry soil or mud. This coating helps to protect it from ceaseless, irritating attacks of biting insects.

When foraging for food, the African elephant communicates a sense of well-being by making a rumbling noise. If an elephant senses danger, it alerts the herd by ceasing to make these sounds.

Diet: As vegetarians, elephants require much food, sometimes consuming more than 225 kg of plant matter a day. But as elephants have an inefficient digestive system, they digest only about 40 per cent of what they eat.Their trunk is employed to pull branches off trees, uproot grass, pluck fruit, and to place food in their mouths. The trunk is also used for smell, touch and in drinking, greeting or throwing dust for dust baths.

Lifespan: About 70 years.

Reproduction: Bulls reach a sexual maturity at 14-15 years while cows at 8-10 years. Till now, there is no distinct mating season for the African elephant. A single young is usually produced after about 22 months of gestation.

Why is it endangered: The African elephant has become very rare and endangered mainly due to kthe loss of habitat through desertification and growth of human populations; and the demand for ivory. Although it is banned now, illegall trading in ivory still occurs largely.

Conservation: There are no recent total estimates available. The 1990 IUCN/SSC Action Plan gave an estimate of 610,000 African Elephants.The African elephant is now endangered. Hunting and trading in ivory is now banned, but stil occurs illegally.