Regarded as the largest land mammal on Earth, the African elephant holds a significant place in the realm of nature. Not only are these magnificent creatures an iconic symbol of African wildlife, but they also play a crucial role in shaping the ecosystem they inhabit.
Beyond their ecological importance, African elephants are deeply woven into the cultural fabric of many African societies, often symbolizing strength, wisdom, and loyalty.
This article delves into ten engaging facts about the African Elephant, exploring the nuances that make this species truly extraordinary.
There are 2 Distinct Species
here are two distinct species of African elephants: the African Savanna Elephant and the African Forest Elephant. The Savanna Elephant, known for its immense size and large ears, roams the plains of sub-Saharan Africa. In contrast, the Forest Elephant, smaller and more elusive, thrives in the tropical rainforests of Central and West Africa.
These species are differentiated not just by their physical traits but also their varying behaviors and diets. The Savanna Elephant prefers grasses and leaves, while the Forest Elephant has a penchant for fruits and tree bark, assisting seed dispersal in their dense forest habitats.
It’s the Largest Land Mammal
As the largest land mammals, African elephants are a testament to nature’s grandeur. Male Savanna Elephants can stand 3.2 to 4 meters at the shoulder and weigh between 5,000 to 14,000 kilograms, significantly larger than other land mammals like the rhinoceros or the hippopotamus.
The sheer size of these creatures is not only awe-inspiring but also plays a crucial role in their survival, deterring predators and allowing them to alter their environments to their benefit.
Longest Life Span Land Mammals
African elephants are among the animal kingdom’s most enduring members, boasting an average lifespan that often mirrors that of humans. In the wild, these impressive creatures can live between 60 to 70 years, with the oldest recorded elephant reaching the venerable age of 86.
Interestingly, their longevity is closely tied to their unique dental structure. Unlike most mammals, elephants have a sequential dental system, where their molars are replaced six times throughout their lifespan. This adaptation allows them to consume large amounts of vegetation daily. However, these molars progressively wear down from constant grinding of grasses, branches, and bark.
An elephant’s age can typically be determined by which molar they are using. At around 15 years, the second set of molars is in full use, and by 30 years, the third set is worn down, giving way to the fourth set. The fifth set is usually worn down around 45 years, and the sixth, and final set, appears between 50-60 years. Once the last set of molars is worn out, the elephant finds it increasingly difficult to eat and gradually grows weaker, often leading to a natural death from old age.
Moreover, studies have shown that older elephants, particularly matriarchs, play a crucial role within the herd due to their wealth of accumulated knowledge. These elderly elephants carry with them a lifetime of experiences and memories, such as locations of distant water sources during times of drought or areas to avoid due to predators, which significantly contributes to the herd’s survival.
Just like in humans, elderly elephants can exhibit signs of physical decline, such as loss of body condition and slowing of movements. However, despite these changes, their value within the herd remains unwavering until their final days.
Understanding the lifespan and aging of African elephants is not only fascinating but also has profound implications for the conservation and management of these magnificent creatures. The presence of older elephants within the population is essential for social learning and overall herd well-being, underlining the importance of protecting these gentle giants at all stages of their lives.
Unique Social Structure
African elephants are celebrated for their rich and complex social structures. This is an integral part of their species’ success, enabling them to survive in diverse and often challenging environments across Africa.
Elephant societies are predominantly matriarchal, with herds composed mainly of females and their offspring. These herds are led by the eldest and often largest female, the matriarch. The matriarch’s role is integral to the survival of the herd. Drawing from her wealth of experience and extensive memory, she makes crucial decisions such as when and where the herd will move, particularly in search of food and water. This wisdom becomes invaluable during periods of drought or in areas where resources are scarce.
Matriarchs also guide the social behavior of the herd. They mediate conflicts, make decisions about interactions with outside elephants and other species, and provide comfort and care to sick or injured herd members.
Male elephants, on the other hand, lead different social lives. Young males leave their natal herds during adolescence, around 10-15 years of age, and may lead semi-solitary lives or live temporarily with other males in ‘bachelor’ groups where they learn skills for adult life. Adult males mostly interact with female groups for mating.
Elephant communication within these social structures is elaborate and diverse. Elephants communicate through a wide range of vocalizations, from rumbles and trumpets to roars and cries. They also use infrasound, low-frequency sounds that can travel long distances, ideal for communication in their vast habitats.
Beyond vocalizations, physical contact and body language are important communication methods. Touch is a crucial part of elephant socialization. They use their trunks to caress, reassure, and discipline younger elephants, and often intertwine trunks as a form of greeting.
Additionally, elephants communicate through seismic signals, using their sensitive feet to detect vibrations in the ground. This form of communication is believed to play a role in coordinating movements and warning about potential threats.
The social structure of elephants is far more complex than most animals, demonstrating not only their intelligence but also the depth of their emotional lives. The strength of their societal bonds and the importance of their relationships contribute significantly to their survival and longevity.
They Shape the Ecosystem
African elephants, often referred to as “ecosystem engineers,” play a crucial role in shaping the ecosystems they inhabit. Through their feeding habits, movements, and other behaviors, elephants profoundly impact the land and contribute to biodiversity in a way few other species do.
Elephants are known to be a ‘keystone species’ due to their significant impact on the environment. As herbivores, they consume a wide variety of plant material, including grasses, leaves, bark, and fruits. In the process, they can alter the landscape dramatically. For instance, they are known to knock down trees to feed on leaves they can’t reach, opening up woodland areas and promoting the growth of grasses, which benefits other herbivores.
Elephants eat a lot of fruits and hence ingest a large number of seeds. These seeds are often dispersed in their dung over wide distances from the parent trees. Some plants even depend on this process to help break down their seeds’ hard outer casing, which aids germination. This seed dispersal promotes plant diversity and helps maintain the health and diversity of the ecosystem.
Elephants contribute to water availability in several ways. They use their tusks to dig for water during dry periods, creating watering holes that can be used by other animals. They also create paths through their environment that can alter the flow of water, form channels, and impact water availability for other species.
Their dung is not only a means of seed dispersal but also contributes to soil fertility. Rich in nutrients, elephant dung replenishes the soil and promotes the growth of various plant species.
By creating clearings in woodlands and forests, elephants promote the growth of different types of vegetation. This change in turn can affect the types of species that can live in these environments, influencing the overall biodiversity.
In summary, the African elephant is a vital component of its ecosystem. Its daily activities can influence the landscape, plant life, water availability, and in turn, the animal life around them. As such, their decline due to poaching and habitat loss is not just a blow to the species but has far-reaching implications for the ecosystems they help shape and support.
They are Incredibly Intelligent
African elephants are highly regarded for their intelligence, emotional depth, and remarkable memory, which is reflected in their complex social structures, problem-solving skills, and learning abilities.
Elephants are known to be incredibly resourceful and exhibit exceptional problem-solving skills. Numerous studies and observations reveal that elephants can use tools, understand human gestures, recognize themselves in mirrors (a test of self-awareness), and even show an understanding of basic arithmetic. They quickly learn and remember routes to water sources, recall the location of food sources based on seasonal changes, and have been observed to learn and repeat behaviors that they’ve seen other elephants perform, demonstrating a form of social learning.
The saying “elephants never forget” holds a substantial amount of truth. Elephants exhibit exceptional long-term memory, particularly in relation to spatial and social information. They remember routes to water sources over extensive distances, even if they’ve only traveled them once, and can recall these routes years later. They remember places where the herd faced danger, often avoiding such places for years. This strong spatial memory is a survival tool, helping herds navigate through changing landscapes in search of food and water.
Elephants also have an extraordinary social memory. They remember other elephants and humans they have encountered even after years or decades. This is crucial in the wild, where recognizing friends or foes can mean the difference between conflict and cooperation. Notably, the matriarch’s memory, accrued over her long life, is a vital resource for her herd.
Elephants have a profound emotional life and exhibit behaviors indicative of empathy, compassion, and grief. They are known to comfort distressed herd members, help injured or sick elephants, and show distinct signs of mourning when encountering a deceased elephant. Such behaviors suggest an emotional intelligence that parallels humans and some other highly social mammals.
These cognitive abilities and emotional depths underline that elephants are intelligent, sentient beings. Understanding their cognitive and emotional abilities helps inform the way we interact with them and provides insights into how to improve their conservation and welfare, both in the wild and in captivity.
Exceptional Sensory Abilities
The African elephant possesses an array of impressive sensory capabilities. From their incredibly dexterous trunks and acute hearing to their sensitive skin and unique perception of vibrations, these sensory skills allow elephants to interact effectively with their environment and each other.
An elephant’s trunk is a marvel of evolution and an exceptional sensory tool. This muscular appendage contains no bone or cartilage but has up to 150,000 individual muscle units, enabling an incredible range of movements. The elephant trunk is used for a variety of functions, including breathing, smelling, touching, grasping, and producing sound. At the tip of the trunk, African elephants have two finger-like projections which they use for delicate tasks such as picking up a small twig or plucking leaves.
When it comes to the sense of smell, elephants are believed to be one of the best among mammals, even outperforming dogs. Their trunks act like a long nose, sucking in air and transferring scent particles to a highly developed olfactory system.
Elephants have a well-developed sense of hearing. Their large ears allow them to hear sounds over long distances, and interestingly, they can also communicate using infrasound — low-frequency sounds that are below the range of human hearing. These infrasonic calls can travel several kilometers, helping elephants maintain contact with family members even when out of sight. Moreover, their ears serve a dual purpose. Given the extensive network of blood vessels, they help regulate the elephant’s body temperature, keeping them cool in hot climates.
Elephants possess a highly developed sense of touch. Their skin, although thick, is sensitive, and they use touch extensively in social interactions. For instance, they entwine trunks as a form of greeting and caress each other to strengthen social bonds. Their trunks and feet are particularly sensitive to vibrations, allowing them to communicate seismically. Elephants can detect rainfall or a thundering herd many kilometers away through these vibrational cues.
In contrast to their other senses, an elephant’s vision is relatively poor. They are believed to see in shades of gray, with less color perception compared to humans. They can see well up close, but their distance vision is considered poor. However, their other senses, like touch, hearing, and particularly smell, more than compensate for this.
These sensory abilities help elephants navigate their complex social structures and challenging environments, demonstrating yet another dimension of their impressive adaptations to life in the wild. Their ability to perceive the world in ways that are far beyond human capabilities offers a unique perspective on these majestic creatures and underscores the need for their continued protection and study.
Have an Extensive Repertoire of Communication Techniques
African elephants utilize a diverse array of communication techniques to interact with one another. Their communication methods include sound, touch, sight, and even seismic signals, which reflect their complex social structures and advanced cognitive abilities.
Elephants use a wide range of sounds for communication, from rumbles and trumpets to roars and cries. These sounds can express a range of emotions and information, from alerting the herd to danger to signaling joy or distress. A significant part of their vocal communication involves infrasound, which are low-frequency sounds below the range of human hearing. These infrasonic calls can travel several kilometers, enabling communication over long distances.
Physical contact plays a significant role in elephant communication. Touching, especially with the trunk, is used to comfort, play, discipline, and establish dominance or submission. Trunks are often used for caressing and reassuring, especially towards calves, while trunk wrestling among juveniles and young adults can help establish social bonds and hierarchies.
Elephants also use body language for communication. Various postures and movements can signal aggression, submission, excitement, and more. For example, an elephant may signal aggression by spreading its ears wide and facing a potential adversary head-on. An elephant that is playful or excited might romp and prance about, flapping its ears.
Fascinatingly, elephants can communicate through vibrations in the earth. They can produce these seismic signals through a variety of behaviors like stomping, and can detect them using sensitive receptors in their feet and trunks. These vibrational cues can travel faster and farther than vocalizations, offering another channel for long-distance communication.
Elephants can secrete pheromones to communicate their reproductive status or dominance. For instance, females in estrus, the period of sexual receptivity, release specific pheromones that males can detect, helping them identify potential mates.
Both male and female elephants have a temporal gland located between the eye and ear on each side of their head. The gland releases a secretion, especially visible in males during musth, a periodic condition characterized by highly aggressive behavior and elevated reproductive hormones.
The sophistication of elephant communication techniques reflects their complex social lives and high intelligence. These communication methods, much like human language, allow elephants to share information, coordinate group activities, express emotions, and maintain social relationships — critical elements for their survival in the wild.
They Have Thick Skin
The skin of an African elephant is much more than just a protective layer. It’s an essential organ that serves multiple functions, including temperature regulation, protection, and communication.
African elephants have remarkably thick skin, with an average thickness of 2.5 cm (1 inch), though it can reach up to 4 cm (1.6 inches) on parts of the body such as the back and the head. This thickness provides an essential layer of protection from environmental factors, such as thorny bushes and sharp rocks found in their habitats.
Despite being thick, elephant skin is not uniformly smooth. It is filled with cracks, wrinkles, and folds. These wrinkles and folds increase the surface area of the skin, helping to trap moisture and dirt. This not only assists in cooling the elephant when water evaporates but also provides a layer of protection against parasites and harmful sun rays.
The elephant’s skin plays a significant role in temperature regulation. Despite its thickness, the skin is rich in blood vessels, which help dissipate heat. Elephants often cover themselves in mud or water, which cools them as it evaporates from the skin. The large ears of African elephants, thin and filled with blood vessels, also help radiate excess body heat.
Despite its thickness, an elephant’s skin is sensitive. They can feel a fly landing on their skin, respond to the touch of another elephant, and feel pain from injuries. Elephants often throw dirt on their backs and sides to protect their skin from sunburn and insect bites, a behavior that indicates an awareness of discomfort and a knowledge of how to alleviate it.The natural color of an African elephant’s skin is greyish-black, but it often appears brown or reddish-brown from wallowing in mud or dust. These “mud baths” serve multiple purposes, including protection from the sun, insects, and overheating.
Around 90% of Elephants Have Been Wiped Out in The Last Century
At the beginning of the 20th century, it’s estimated that there may have been as many as 3-5 million African elephants. However, accurate numbers from this period are hard to determine due to the lack of comprehensive population surveys and record-keeping.
Widespread hunting and habitat loss during the first half of the century led to a dramatic decline in elephant numbers. By the mid-20th century, the African elephant population was thought to have fallen to around 1.3 million. The demand for ivory, coupled with advancements in hunting weapons and techniques, made elephants increasingly vulnerable.
In the latter half of the 20th century, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s, the African elephant population experienced a severe poaching crisis due to the soaring global demand for ivory. Elephant numbers plummeted, reaching a low of about 600,000 by the end of the 1980s.
The international trade of ivory was banned in 1989 by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which led to a recovery in some populations of African elephants. By the early 21st century, some countries had stable or even increasing elephant populations thanks to effective conservation efforts.
Given their critical role in the ecosystems they inhabit and their cultural and economic importance, the conservation of African elephants remains a crucial objective. International cooperation, effective local management, and a commitment to reducing the demand for ivory are essential to ensure the survival of this iconic species.