Species Name Loxodonta africana

Family Elephantidae

Order Proboscidae

Distribution

The African elephant can be found throughout all of the African mainland, mainly south of the Sahara.

Habitat

Elephants live in grassland, savanna, scrub and forested regions. They are always associated with permanent water and abundant vegetation. The desert elephant from Namibia is the only exception to this rule as they have adapted to the harsh conditions of the area. The water plays an important role in keeping them cool as they do not have sweat glands.

Numbers

Elephants are decreasing in numbers due to the slaughter for their ivory, and reduction of their habitat by man. The poaching of elephants for their tusks and the growing populations and development of Africa has meant that the number of elephant herds has declined sharply throughout the 1900s. The tiger is their main natural predator.

Related Species

Asian (sometimes called Indian) elephants are found in Malaya, Indonesia and southern China, as well as India. They have a shoulder height of 300-400 centimetres and live longer than African elephants. The rabbit-sized hyrax, and the aquatic dugong and manatees are very distantly related to elephants.

Interesting Facts

Close ancestors of the modern day elephant are believed to have lived up to 60 million years ago in a variety of environments. A well preserved carcass of the now extinct woolly mammoth was found in the Arctic Circle. Elephants play a pivotal role in their ecosystem, promoting seed dispersal and rapid germination; forging paths to waterholes which become firebreaks for other animals; trapping rainfall in their footprints; digging waterholes and enlarging other waterfalls when they bathe; and protecting other animals from predators.

The circumference of an elephant┐s foot is about half their shoulder height. Indian elephants have been used as domestic animals for centuries. African elephants, which eat more, and may have uncertain tempers, are used less. The distantly related dugong, which has pectoral nipples, suckles its newborn young on the surface while floating on its back. It is thought that such a sight may have given rise to the notion of mermaids.