By David Okul
African elephants are the largest land animal on earth. As a keystone species, the African elephants shape their habitats in many ways. For instance, their dung contains seeds where a variety of plants germinate. The African elephants are categorized into savanna elephant and forest elephant. This article focusses on the former.
Scientific name | Loxodonta Africana |
Weight | 3,000 kg to 6,000 kg
|
Height | 2.2 meters to 4.2 meters |
Length
| 3 meters to 5 meters |
Life expectancy | 50-70years in the wild, up to 80 years in captivity |
IUCN status | Vulnerable |
Gestation period | 22 months |
General habits of African elephants
Apart from their massive size, other general habits of these African huge creatures include:
- Although they appear nimble, they can walk approximately 196 kilometers (122 miles) per day. However, they cover an average of 25km per day. These elephants can also run surprisingly fast for up to 64 km/h (40 mph).
- African elephants are social creatures and live in huge groups. They live in family groups for their entire lifetime. Their calves don’t stray far from other family members, particularly their mothers.
- Unlike other elephant species in Asia and Africa where the leader of the entire herd is the largest and the oldest male, African elephants have one leader, usually the oldest female elephant, the matriarch. Often, the males live in bachelor herds.
- They can recognize themselves in the mirror, something that very few animals can do.
- African elephants are highly intelligent. They use various means of communication among themselves. They communicate by vocalizing a wide array of sounds and calls. They utilize infrasound which can unmistakably be heard from kilometers away.
- Some people report that elephants avenge for the death of their loved ones. Similarly, they can remember people who assist them. These behaviors are testaments to their intelligence.
- Elephants ears are huge as they help in regulating temperatures. Their trunks have over 40,000 muscles and it is used for smelling, breathing, trumpeting, drinking, and for grabbing things. The trunk is prehensile, and it can be used to grab small items.
Feeding habits of African elephants
Like other elephants, savanna elephants are strictly herbivorous. The gentle giants feed on plants, trees, herbs, grasses, and other vegetation. They stick to a healthy, vegetarian diet, whereby they consume up to 73 plant species. Other interesting feeding habits include:
- To maintain their dietary needs, African elephants can consume between 100 to 300 kilograms of food daily. These creatures spend 16 to 18 hours of feeding every day. Simply put, African elephants spend 80% of their time in a day feeding. They also drink up to 190 liters a day.
- African elephants’ favorite diet is tree bark. It contains roughage and calcium, which helps with digestion.
- To supplement their diet, African elephants dig up the earth to derive essential minerals and salts. They can also congregate at mineral-rich sources such as water holes, mineral licks, and termite mounds to supplement their food with minerals.
- The fact that African elephants require vast amounts of food means they have to traverse for large distances foraging for food. This causes habitat destruction wherever they transverse, in turn posing a threat to their survival.
Breeding habits of African elephants
Their long gestation period (almost 2 years) means that a lot of investment is needed in producing a calf. Furthermore, a cow often gets pregnant five years after giving birth.
- Both male and female African elephants reach sexual maturity from 8 years to 12 years. Females remain productive until old age.
- Breeding among African elephants occurs throughout the year. However, mating is more frequent from early December to late March, than in other months of the year.
- When females are ready to mate, they attract suitable males. Although dominant, older males are often the first to mate, the female can mate with multiple males within the group. Moreover, the female gets to pick her preferred mating partner.
- Both the sexes have a gland between their eyes and ears that secrete temporin. Nevertheless, elephants in the musth period produce a more viscous secretion that has high testosterone levels. Males are at their top physical condition during musth and the male elephants in musth are often the ones that breed.
- When it comes to mating season, both the cow and the bull isolate themselves from the group to mate. The mating can go on for a month, although the female can choose the number of males to mate with throughout the mating season.
- Elephants have the longest gestation period of land mammals and give birth to a calf weighing 100 kg (220 pounds). The calf will drink milk from its mum until the milk dries out or the calf’s tusks become too poky.
- After reaching maturity at about 12 years female elephants remain in their natal herds while the males leave the herd for single life or join other males.
🐘
— Alexander Verbeek 🌍 (@Alex_Verbeek) August 12, 2019
Crossing the river is a challenge for the little elephant.
But he is not alone. 🐘🐘
Watch the strong solidarity and cooperation within an elephant family. #elephants #nature #wildlife #animals #ElephantDay pic.twitter.com/p68N2L779o
Threats faced by elephants
Poaching is the biggest threat that elephants face. Before the coming of Europeans, there were as many as 26 million elephants. However, poaching has reduced the number of elephants to barely 400,000. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) banned the trade of ivory in 1989 but the trade is still rampant. Approximately, 27,000 elephants are killed in Africa every year.
By the fact that they eat massive amounts of foods, elephants often meet humans. Farmers get mad when elephants raid their crops that they would want to retaliate. Thankfully, many conservation organizations are offering compensation schemes for affected farmers.
Habitat fragmentation is a threat considering elephants need vast spaces to roam.
David Okul is an environmental management professional with over 10 years experience on donor projects, conservation, forestry, ecotourism, and community-based natural resources management. When not working on active environmental management projects, I spend my time writing for Silvica on a variety of topics. The views on this blog post are personal.
