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Learn about the two species of African elephants, their size, diet, behavior, threats and more. See stunning images of these majestic animals and how they shape their habitat.
- 5 min
- There are about 50,000 muscles in an elephant’s trunk, made up of six muscle groups, and no bones. This compares to 639 muscles in the entire human body!
- Elephants cannot jump, gallop or canter. They can only walk at various speeds – from a slow walk to a moderate ‘amble’ and fast shuffling ‘run’ where their stride remains the same but the leg speed increases.
- Elephants are either left or right ‘handed’. They are born not knowing how to use their trunks and learn as they grow. Like humans, they show a preference between grasping objects to the left or right.
- The elephant’s sense of smell is estimated to be four times that of a bloodhound or 160 times that of a human. They can smell water from many kilometres away.
- They’re the world’s largest land animal. The African Savanna (Bush) elephant is the world's largest land animal – with adult males, or bull elephants, standing up to 3m high and weighing up to 6,000kg on average.
- You can tell the three species apart by their ears. There are three species of elephant: African Savanna (Bush), African Forest and Asian. The ears of African elephants are much larger than their cousins and are described as being shaped like the African continent, whereas the ears of Asian elephants are shaped like the Indian subcontinent.
- Their trunks have mad skills. Elephants have around 150,000 muscle units in their trunk. Their trunks are perhaps the most sensitive organ found in any mammal.
- Their tusks are actually teeth. Elephant tusks are actually enlarged incisor teeth which first appear when elephants are around 2 years old. Tusks continue growing throughout their lives.
African elephants are members of the genus Loxodonta comprising two living elephant species, the African bush elephant (L. africana) and the smaller African forest elephant (L. cyclotis). Both are social herbivores with grey skin, but differ in the size and colour of their tusks and in the shape and size of their ears and skulls.
There are two species of African elephants—the savanna (or bush) elephant and the forest elephant. Savanna elephants are larger than forest elephants, and their tusks curve outwards. In addition to being smaller, forest elephants are darker and their tusks are straighter and point downward.
Learn about the anatomy, behaviour, communication and conservation of African elephants, the largest living land mammals. Discover the differences between savannah and forest elephants, and the threats they face from poachers and habitat loss.
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