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African Elephant

Mammals

The largest living land animal, native to the savanna grasslands, forests and semi-desert of sub-Saharan Africa. Both sexes commonly carry tusks, unlike the Asian elephant, and its ears are notably larger, an adaptation for radiating excess body heat in a hot climate. African elephants live in matriarchal family groups led by an experienced older female, communicate over long distances using low-frequency sounds below the range of human hearing, and are recognized as a keystone species: their feeding and movement shapes vegetation structure across the savanna in ways that benefit many other species.

Facts
Disputed
Conservation Status
Endangered 3
In March 2021 the IUCN Red List, for the first time, assessed African elephants as two separate species rather than one: the African savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana) as Endangered, and the African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) as Critically Endangered, following new genetic evidence. Before that reassessment the combined single-species value was Vulnerable. This atlas models a single African Elephant entity, so the single value Endangered here (kept as the larger-population savanna species' status, this atlas's prior value) is a simplification of a genuinely split picture rather than a settled fact; marked debated rather than attested for that reason, and a taxonomy question is raised asking whether the entity should be split to match. See the accompanying taxonomy question.
Population Estimate
415,000 5
The IUCN's most recent continent-wide assessment splits the African elephant into two species, savanna and forest, whose combined wild population is estimated near 415,000, but forest elephant numbers in particular are drawn from surveys of dense, hard-to-access habitat and carry wide uncertainty; some regional counts are years out of date.
Classification
Diet
Herbivore 1
System (Realm)
Terrestrial 2
Relationship to People
Hunted or Fished 1
Living or Extinct
Yes 3
Derived from this species' own Conservation Status: this atlas's IUCN category list has no Extinct value, so a set conservation-status is itself evidence of living status (w-bfill-g5-0924 browse backfill).
Scientific Name
Loxodonta africana 4
Connections

Child Taxon Of

Proboscidea, Taxa
Source Catalogue of Life

In Biome

Grassland, Biomes
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica

In Ecosystem

Kruger National Park, Ecosystems

A 2011 park wildlife count places roughly 13,750 African bush elephants in Kruger.

Source Kruger National Park (Wikipedia)
Okavango Delta, Ecosystems
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
In the Other Atlases
  • Also in Geography Atlas: Africa, originated there.
  • Also in Geography Atlas: Africa, found in there.
  • Also in Geography Atlas: Botswana, found in there.
  • Also in Geography Atlas: Eswatini, found in there.
  • Also in Geography Atlas: Kenya, found in there.
  • Also in Geography Atlas: Mozambique, found in there.
  • Also in Geography Atlas: Namibia, found in there.
  • Also in Geography Atlas: Zimbabwe, found in there.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: African Elephant
Wikipedia
  • Lead section
    threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, along with poaching for the illegal ivory trade
  • system (MediaWiki batch-API article extract states it plainly, diet)
    Both are social herbivores with grey skin.
View the Source
2. African elephant (Wikipedia)
land habitat described throughout (savanna/forest African elephant range)View the Source
3. African Elephant Species Now Endangered and Critically Endangered (IUCN)
International Union for Conservation of Nature, 2021Body of the press release
Quote, Body of the press release
Before todays update, African elephants were treated as a single species, listed as Vulnerable
View the Source
4. Encyclopedia of Life
Encyclopedia of LifeView the Source
5. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
International Union for Conservation of NatureView the Source
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
  • https://www.britannica.com/animal/African-bush-elephant
    Bush elephants are known for their large, pointed ears, which they use to dissipate heat, and their tusks, which curve outward.
  • In Biome: Grassland
  • In Ecosystem: Okavango Delta
View the Source
African Elephants, Loxodonta africana and L. cyclotis Fact Sheet, Population and Conservation Status (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Library)
Population Status subsection
Quote, Population Status subsection
Overall, continent-wide population declines over the past few decades
View the Source
Kruger National Park (Wikipedia)
WikipediaIn Ecosystem: Kruger National Park, Wildlife population table
Quote, In Ecosystem: Kruger National Park, Wildlife population table
African bush elephant ... 13,750
View the Source
Catalogue of Life
Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of LifeChild Taxon Of: ProboscideaView the Source
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