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Loxodonta o African Elephant is a genus of proboscidean mammals of the elephant family that includes the two living species of African elephant: the African savanna elephant (Loxodonta Africana) and the African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis),1 which were previously considered two subspecies of the same species.
The African bush elephant (Loxodonta Africana) is a proboscidean mammal of the elephant family.2 It is the largest land mammal that exists today. It is one of the last three proboscidean species surviving today, the others being the African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis, previously considered a subspecies of L. Africana, although its taxonomic classification remains in doubt) and the elephant Asiatic (Elephas maximus). Since 2021, the African elephant has been listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List because the global population was found to have declined by more than 50% over three generations.3 Approximately 70% of its range distribution is outside protected areas.
Males normally reach 6 to 7.5 m in length and 3.2 to 4 m in height at the withers; females between 2.6 and 3 m. They weigh on average about 6 tons, with maximums of 10, adult males, and females between 2.8 and 4.6.4, which makes them the largest terrestrial living beings in the world. However, there is news of a male individual 4.2 m tall and weighing 12,274 kg, who was shot down in 1955 in Angola, whose body is dissected in the Museum of Natural History in Washington.[citation needed] ]
When they move, they do so at a rate of about 6 km/h at a steady pace, although when they get scared or angry they can run at speeds greater than 40 km/h.
The African savannah elephant is characterized by its large head, wide ears that cover the shoulders, long and muscular trunk, and the presence of two well-developed "tusks" in the upper jaw in both sexes, although larger in males. In their natural environment they live between forty and fifty years, since an adult elephant has no natural enemies, with the exception of man. After the age of forty, their last teeth wear out and it is impossible for them to eat and they die. In captivity they can live longer due to the care and feeding they receive, they can reach sixty years of age.
Almost non-existent short neck, wide barrel-shaped body.
Long, thick legs, and not very long tail.
The animal is insulated from the outside by a thick layer of gray-brown leathery skin.
The hind legs have three hoof-shaped fingers, while the number of fingers on the front ones varies between four and five depending on the specimen.
The forehead is smooth.
The trunk is the most characteristic organ of this animal: it is formed by the fusion and elongation of the nose.
The trunk at its end is topped by two lobes that can be used as a "hand" to grab objects, such as food and water that the animal puts in its mouth (something very useful considering that these animals have almost no neck). They can even pick up a pin from the ground by holding it between the lobes of their trunk.
The trunk is also used for smelling and for taking water and dust baths.
Some of the messages emitted depending on the position of the trunk are:
Extreme over one's own mouth or touching one's ear: submission.
Raised trunk: state of alert, possible danger.
Trunk against chest: readiness to attack imminently.
In addition to smell, hearing and touch, elephants also receive a lot of information through vibrations in the ground that they pick up through the soles of their feet (these can be emitted by other elephants), for example ovulating females looking for a mate in the mating season, but they also identify the first vibrations of earthquakes or those caused by water courses, sometimes very far from the animal. The latter is of vital importance in very dry areas, such as the Namibian desert, where elephants must travel hundreds of kilometers to find places to get water and food.
African savanna elephants are herbivorous animals. Depending on whether they live in the forest, grasslands or semi-deserts, the percentage of grasses and leaves of trees or shrubs in their diet varies significantly. To crush them they only use four large molars (two in each jaw) 10 cm wide and three long. Due to constant use, these molars wear out over the years and are replaced several times throughout the animal's life. Around the age of fifteen, baby teeth are replaced by new ones that last until the age of thirty and then by others that wear out after the age of forty, being replaced by the last teeth that last until approximately sixty-five years, seventy at most. Shortly after, the animal dies of starvation due to not being able to feed properly. In captivity, there have been cases of individuals over eighty years old.
These animals are considered quite "wasteful", since it is normal for them to ingest an average of 225 kg of plant matter, most of which is not fully digested when they defecate. This, together with the enormous distances they can travel daily in search of more food, contributes significantly to the dispersion of many plant seeds that germinate in the middle of a mountain of excrement full of nutrients. On their foraging journeys, elephants uproot all types of plants from the ground and knock down trees with their tusks, like real living bulldozers if they cannot reach the top even by standing on their hind legs. You can tell they carry the devastation with them. This causes serious problems for other animals and the elephants themselves in national parks where there are excess specimens, so those responsible for parks with excess specimens usually contact others where elephants are less numerous and transfer the surplus individuals. As for water, elephants also ingest it in large quantities, about 190 l per day.
