APPRECIATE THEIR MAGNIFICENCE

Look, Really See--Really Feel the Beauty, Elegance, Dignity and Passion of the African Elephant

The NOBLE AFRICAN ELEPHANT has not been treated well in Africa. They were not domesticated and trained and worshipped as in Asia. The Africans did not have much to supplement their diet with protein. So, they used the elephant for meat. The African Elephant, therefore, was seem as meat to be hunted and killed. Elephants lived among a human population that was often sparse. The elephants existence was unrestricted and not regulated by humans. Humans did not try to make many changes to the environment. Elephants stayed away from the human population, rarely moved about the humans' croplands and were not considered competition with livestock. The AFRICAN PEOPLE, who had seen the elephant, did respect their strength, wisdom, and benevolence and power. The people did not attempt to have a close bond with an elephant. In the terrain in which elephants lived in Africa, elephants could not be used very often in epic battles or as working animals as they were used in Asia. The African Elephants are more difficult to train than the Asian Elephant. They are trainable, however, and have been used in zoos and in battles. The MAJOR CAUSE of the lost of more than half of the elephant population in Africa is the massacre of elephants for the ivory trade. Between 1979 and 1989, the elephant population in Africa fell from 1.34 million to 625,000. In this ten year span, East Africa lost more than 52% of its elephant population. Kenya went from having about 130,000 to less than 17,000. Mature males were targeted more often due to the length of their tusks. Ivory trade has been suspended in most countries (legally), but is still carried on illegally. The residents in the villages in the African countries with elephant population, often see the elephant as a pest--ravaging their crops and and taking up valuable land that could be used for crops or habitation. Government officials, the military and the police are often corrupt and enable the export of ivory by means of false documents and looking the other way. Even if ivory loses its value, will the African people let the elephants proliferate is another question to be considered.

AFRICAN ELEPHANT
Phylum: CHORDATA
Class: MAMMALIA
Order: PROBOSCIDEA
Family: ELEPHANTIDAE

Size/Weight/Height
Females, or cows, will reach a height of 9-10 feet tall at the shoulder. Males, or bulls, will grow to 10-12 feet tall at the shoulder. The cows are smaller, weighing 8,000-10,000 lbs. Bulls will weigh between 10,000 and 12,000 lbs. when full grown.
Life Span/Life Expectancy
60 - 70 years
Color
The skin of an elephant can be from 0.25"-1.5" thick to withstand blistering sun and torrential rains.
The basic color is a brownish-gray. But it will take on the shade of the local dirt (red, black, even dusty white) which they throw liberally on themselves to protect their skin from sunburn and insect bites.
Habitat
The African Bush Elephant (Loxodonta Africana) is found in most African countries excluding the Sahara and tropical rainforest of the Congo.
African elephants live in a wide variety of habitats from the desert regions of western Niger and the Etosha Pans of Namibia to the grassy savannahs of East Africa westward into the forests of Central Africa.
The other African species is the reclusive Forest Elephant (Loxodonta Cyclotis). This species lives in small numbers in the dense rainforest of the Congo.
As the name implies, the bush Elephant principally inhabits the open savanna, but also ranges through forest fringe, swamp/river fringe and mountain regions up to the snowline.
Range
African elephants are found in Africa south of the Sahara, throughout most of central, eastern, and southern africa.
Geographic Distribution: African elephants live in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, although their range is now broken into patches. Small numbers of forest elephants live in dense equatorial forests from Zaire west to Mauritania, while savanna elephants are far more widespread in drier woodlands and savannas.
Savanna elephants are now most common in Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa.
The location of African elephants are in the following countries: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi (ex), Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia (ex), Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau (ex), Kenya, Lesotho (ex), Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland (ex) {reint}, Tanzania, United Republic of, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Diet/Feeding
Its diet consists of purely vegetation in the form of grasses, tree limbs, tubers, fruits, vines and shrubs.
They will spend up to 16 hours of each day foraging for the 300+ pounds of vegetation they must consume to meet their nutritional needs. Their digestive system is geared towards processing massive quantities of bulk, of which only 45% is actually digested and used.
The partially digested feces are an ecologically important method of seed dispersal, and one species of plant actually must be passed through an elephant`s gut in order to germinate and grow!
Diet: The African elephant eats between 300 and 500 pounds of vegetation every day. It consumes a widely varied diet of grass, tree bark and fruits. Soils are often consumed for their mineral content.
Reproduction
Usually a single baby elephant, or calf, is born to a female after a 20-22 month gestation. Twins are uncommon, but have been recorded.
A calf generally weighs 200-250 lbs. and is 2-3 feet tall. It will nurse for 1-2 years, nibbling on solids as early as six months.
If the calf is female, she will probably live her life within her family until she has calves of her own. Puberty can start as early as 11 years old. The female usually leaves to form her own family group.
She will often see her mature sisters and cousins at reunions when grazing ranges overlap or herds migrate.
A bull calf will live with the family until the age of 11 or 12. This is usually when he becomes very obnoxious and is driven out of the herd. He will live in loose association with other young bulls in "bachelor herds." He only enters the main herd to seek out estrus females.
Puberty in elephants can be delayed until age 16 or 17 if conditions are poor and adequate nutrition is unavailable. Calving intervals range from 3-8 years. This is also dependent on available food and water resources.
Bull elephants entering maturity will begin to experience a yearly condition known as "musth." It is basically a hormonal overload of testosterone which creates heightened aggression. It does not coincide with any particular season, but is individual to each bull. It will generally set in once a year and last from 1-6 months. Musth does not trigger breeding. Although musth bulls have the best chance to fight off other males and win breeding rights. Musth will serve to advance a bull`s rank within a group of bulls. This is evidenced by small musth bulls challenging and beating much larger, older non-musth bulls. Usually only one or two high-ranking bulls will reserve the right to breed any estrus females in a herd.
Elephants live in extended family groups which merge and separate according to seasons. The leader of each family is usually the largest, oldest and wisest cow called the matriarch.
Families of 9-10 animals are related to other individuals in other families. This is called a "bond group." Several bond groups will habitually reunite with each other several times a year when environmental conditions are good. This is generally after spring rains when there is an abundance of fresh grass. These bond groups are "clans" numbering 50 or more animals. These clans will form herds when migrating or gathering for spring grazing. They may number into the hundreds of individuals.
Elephants are highly social animals who prefer to live in large, interactive groups. But they usually break off into smaller groups to more effectively utilize available food resources when conditions become poor. In this way they effectively decrease competition among themselves for food.
Communication/Sounds
Elephants communicate by many different means, including visual displays (e.g - the classic elephant charge), chemical cues, tactile/touch displays, and a variety of sounds, including infrasound--sound too low in pitch for people to hear. Infrasound, produced in the larynx, can carry clearly over great distances--much farther than the loudest yell made by a human.
Researchers have noted that groups of elephants separated by several miles will often travel in synchrony. These group movements are probably coordinated by means of infrasound and chemical cues. Analysis of audio recordings has uncovered many distinct calls, meaning anything from "let`s go" to "I am in estrus - where are the bulls?"
Humans are only able to hear the uppermost range of the elephants' calls. These would be the roars, trumpets, rumbles and squeaks or chirps.
Among many visual displays, a curled under trunk and outspread ears signal threat. When combined with a loud trumpet or roar, this usually signals that aggression is forthcoming.
The sense of smell is the other dominant sense, besides hearing, that the elephant relies on. Water and fresh vegetation can be ascertained from far away. Elephants probably can recognize other individuals by the scent of their urine and feces.
All elephants possess two small holes in the roof of their mouths, called vomeronasal organs. These detect pheremones, especially important in the breeding process. Bull elephants can tell when a female elephant is sexually receptive (in estrus) from pheremones in her urine. Since she is in estrus for only three days or so every four years, this accurate analysis is imperative for maximum reproductive success.
The trunk is used to expand the elephant`s sense of touch. Elephants will caress, slap and grab each other in different situations. A ritual form of greeting is for each elephant to put the tip of their trunk into the other`s mouth. This probably transfers chemical cues as well as tactile sensations).
African elephant`s ears
The ears are quite large and serve two purposes. The large ear flap can serve as a directional receiver to help the animal to pinpoint the direction of incoming calls. The large veins latticing the back of the ear flap are just under the thin skin and serve as a radiator to dispel heat from the brain and rest of the body (spraying the ears with water increases the cooling effect).
The Trunk
The trunk is a highly specialized organ consisting of the fusion and elongation of the nose and upper lip. It is a very delicate yet strong appendage, containing over 40,000 muscles and tendons. The sensitive tip ends in two fingerlike projections which can manipulate objects or pick up very small items. This trunk can also lift up objects of more than 400 pounds, and aids the elephant to reach plants that no other herbivore besides the giraffe can reach, allowing elephants to find food in areas that other animals cannot. Water (about 1.5 gallons) is sucked up more than halfway into the trunk and then blown into the mouth for a drink or onto the back for a cooling spray.
Using Tools
Elephants have been observed to be inventive in the use of objects as tools. They will use sticks, grasped in the trunk, to scratch areas of their body that the trunk or tail cannot reach. They have been seen digging with their tusks to reach underground water in drought areas, and after drinking their fill, will use a chewed up bundle of tree fibers as a cork to plug the hole to prevent it drying up, and they will continue to return to the well repeatedly to drink, corking it up each time.

AFRICAN ELEPHANT Phylum: CHORDATA Class: MAMMALIA Order: PROBOSCIDEA Family: ELEPHANTIDAE
Size/Weight/Height Females, or cows, will reach a height of 9-10 feet tall at the shoulder. Males, or bulls, will grow to 10-12 feet tall at the shoulder. The cows are smaller, weighing 8,000-10,000 lbs. Bulls will weigh between 10,000 and 12,000 lbs. when full grown.
Life Span/Life Expectancy 60 - 70 years
Color The skin of an elephant can be from 0.25"-1.5" thick to withstand blistering sun and torrential rains. The basic color is a brownish-gray. But it will take on the shade of the local dirt (red, black, even dusty white) which they throw liberally on themselves to protect their skin from sunburn and insect bites.
Habitat The African Bush Elephant (Loxodonta Africana) is found in most African countries excluding the Sahara and tropical rainforest of the Congo. African elephants live in a wide variety of habitats from the desert regions of western Niger and the Etosha Pans of Namibia to the grassy savannahs of East Africa westward into the forests of Central Africa. The other African species is the reclusive Forest Elephant (Loxodonta Cyclotis). This species lives in small numbers in the dense rainforest of the Congo. As the name implies, the bush Elephant principally inhabits the open savanna, but also ranges through forest fringe, swamp/river fringe and mountain regions up to the snowline.
Range African elephants are found in Africa south of the Sahara, throughout most of central, eastern, and southern africa. Geographic Distribution: African elephants live in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, although their range is now broken into patches. Small numbers of forest elephants live in dense equatorial forests from Zaire west to Mauritania, while savanna elephants are far more widespread in drier woodlands and savannas. Savanna elephants are now most common in Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa. The location of African elephants are in the following countries: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi (ex), Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia (ex), Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau (ex), Kenya, Lesotho (ex), Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland (ex) {reint}, Tanzania, United Republic of, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Diet/Feeding Its diet consists of purely vegetation in the form of grasses, tree limbs, tubers, fruits, vines and shrubs. They will spend up to 16 hours of each day foraging for the 300+ pounds of vegetation they must consume to meet their nutritional needs. Their digestive system is geared towards processing massive quantities of bulk, of which only 45% is actually digested and used. The partially digested feces are an ecologically important method of seed dispersal, and one species of plant actually must be passed through an elephant`s gut in order to germinate and grow! Diet: The African elephant eats between 300 and 500 pounds of vegetation every day. It consumes a widely varied diet of grass, tree bark and fruits. Soils are often consumed for their mineral content.
Reproduction Usually a single baby elephant, or calf, is born to a female after a 20-22 month gestation. Twins are uncommon, but have been recorded. A calf generally weighs 200-250 lbs. and is 2-3 feet tall. It will nurse for 1-2 years, nibbling on solids as early as six months. If the calf is female, she will probably live her life within her family until she has calves of her own. Puberty can start as early as 11 years old. The female usually leaves to form her own family group. She will often see her mature sisters and cousins at reunions when grazing ranges overlap or herds migrate. A bull calf will live with the family until the age of 11 or 12. This is usually when he becomes very obnoxious and is driven out of the herd. He will live in loose association with other young bulls in "bachelor herds." He only enters the main herd to seek out estrus females. Puberty in elephants can be delayed until age 16 or 17 if conditions are poor and adequate nutrition is unavailable. Calving intervals range from 3-8 years. This is also dependent on available food and water resources. Bull elephants entering maturity will begin to experience a yearly condition known as "musth." It is basically a hormonal overload of testosterone which creates heightened aggression. It does not coincide with any particular season, but is individual to each bull. It will generally set in once a year and last from 1-6 months. Musth does not trigger breeding. Although musth bulls have the best chance to fight off other males and win breeding rights. Musth will serve to advance a bull`s rank within a group of bulls. This is evidenced by small musth bulls challenging and beating much larger, older non-musth bulls. Usually only one or two high-ranking bulls will reserve the right to breed any estrus females in a herd. Elephants live in extended family groups which merge and separate according to seasons. The leader of each family is usually the largest, oldest and wisest cow called the matriarch. Families of 9-10 animals are related to other individuals in other families. This is called a "bond group." Several bond groups will habitually reunite with each other several times a year when environmental conditions are good. This is generally after spring rains when there is an abundance of fresh grass. These bond groups are "clans" numbering 50 or more animals. These clans will form herds when migrating or gathering for spring grazing. They may number into the hundreds of individuals. Elephants are highly social animals who prefer to live in large, interactive groups. But they usually break off into smaller groups to more effectively utilize available food resources when conditions become poor. In this way they effectively decrease competition among themselves for food.
Communication/Sounds Elephants communicate by many different means, including visual displays (e.g - the classic elephant charge), chemical cues, tactile/touch displays, and a variety of sounds, including infrasound--sound too low in pitch for people to hear. Infrasound, produced in the larynx, can carry clearly over great distances--much farther than the loudest yell made by a human. Researchers have noted that groups of elephants separated by several miles will often travel in synchrony. These group movements are probably coordinated by means of infrasound and chemical cues. Analysis of audio recordings has uncovered many distinct calls, meaning anything from "let`s go" to "I am in estrus - where are the bulls?" Humans are only able to hear the uppermost range of the elephants' calls. These would be the roars, trumpets, rumbles and squeaks or chirps. Among many visual displays, a curled under trunk and outspread ears signal threat. When combined with a loud trumpet or roar, this usually signals that aggression is forthcoming. The sense of smell is the other dominant sense, besides hearing, that the elephant relies on. Water and fresh vegetation can be ascertained from far away. Elephants probably can recognize other individuals by the scent of their urine and feces. All elephants possess two small holes in the roof of their mouths, called vomeronasal organs. These detect pheremones, especially important in the breeding process. Bull elephants can tell when a female elephant is sexually receptive (in estrus) from pheremones in her urine. Since she is in estrus for only three days or so every four years, this accurate analysis is imperative for maximum reproductive success. The trunk is used to expand the elephant`s sense of touch. Elephants will caress, slap and grab each other in different situations. A ritual form of greeting is for each elephant to put the tip of their trunk into the other`s mouth. This probably transfers chemical cues as well as tactile sensations).
African elephant`s ears The ears are quite large and serve two purposes. The large ear flap can serve as a directional receiver to help the animal to pinpoint the direction of incoming calls. The large veins latticing the back of the ear flap are just under the thin skin and serve as a radiator to dispel heat from the brain and rest of the body (spraying the ears with water increases the cooling effect).
The Trunk The trunk is a highly specialized organ consisting of the fusion and elongation of the nose and upper lip. It is a very delicate yet strong appendage, containing over 40,000 muscles and tendons. The sensitive tip ends in two fingerlike projections which can manipulate objects or pick up very small items. This trunk can also lift up objects of more than 400 pounds, and aids the elephant to reach plants that no other herbivore besides the giraffe can reach, allowing elephants to find food in areas that other animals cannot. Water (about 1.5 gallons) is sucked up more than halfway into the trunk and then blown into the mouth for a drink or onto the back for a cooling spray.
Using Tools Elephants have been observed to be inventive in the use of objects as tools. They will use sticks, grasped in the trunk, to scratch areas of their body that the trunk or tail cannot reach. They have been seen digging with their tusks to reach underground water in drought areas, and after drinking their fill, will use a chewed up bundle of tree fibers as a cork to plug the hole to prevent it drying up, and they will continue to return to the well repeatedly to drink, corking it up each time.

Regional figures for the population of African elephants can be found at the African Elephant Database

African Elephants Click Above to See Pictures of African Elephants.

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