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African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana)

Large savanna elephant native to Sub-Saharan Africa. Overview of appearance, range, behavior, threats from poaching and habitat loss, and conservation measures.

Author: Leandro Alegsa Creation date: November 13, 2022 Last updated: June 1, 2026

simple.wikipedia.org · CC BY-SA 2.0

Overview

The African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana) is the larger of the two widely recognized African elephant types and a distinctive member of the savanna fauna. It is sometimes called the African savannah elephant to emphasize its adaptation to open grassland and mixed woodland environments. The species belongs to the broader group referred to as the African elephant and has been the subject of extensive ecological and conservation study because of its size, complex social life, and interactions with people. Current scientific and conservation reports indicate that the species' population has undergone significant declines in many parts of its range in recent decades.

Physical characteristics

African bush elephants are the largest living terrestrial mammals. Adult males commonly exceed several tonnes in weight and can stand around three to four metres at the shoulder; tusk size and body mass vary by region and individual. Notable features include large, fan-shaped ears that aid in thermoregulation, a long prehensile trunk used for feeding and drinking, and thick, wrinkled skin. Both sexes may carry tusks, although tusk size and presence differ between populations. Their dentition and feet are adapted for long-distance movement across varied terrain.

Range and habitat

The species occurs across much of Sub-Saharan Africa and occupies a wide set of habitats from open grasslands to more wooded country. It is well adapted to the plains and mixed habitats of East Africa but is not limited to that region. Countries where populations are known to occur include Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Zambia, and Angola. In some nations, such as Mali, elephants may also use arid or desert margins seasonally.

Habitats and movement

African bush elephants are generalist browsers and grazers that move seasonally to follow water and food resources. They use diverse environments, including:

open and seasonally flooded grasslands and woodlands (grassland),
riverine forests and gallery corridors that link resources,
wetlands and marshy areas that provide water and mineral sources (wetlands),
and agricultural landscapes where they sometimes forage on crops.

This mobility allows them to exploit patchy resources but also brings them into frequent contact with people and livestock.

Social organization centers on family groups led by an older female (matriarch). Groups may merge into larger aggregations around abundant resources. Diet is mixed: grasses, leaves, bark, roots and fruits are eaten in varying proportions depending on seasonal availability. Their feeding behavior has strong ecological effects: elephants modify vegetation structure, create waterholes used by other species, and disperse seeds over long distances.

Threats and conservation

Major threats include illegal hunting for ivory, loss and fragmentation of habitat, and increasing human–wildlife conflict where elephants raid crops or compete for water. Conservation measures include protected area management, anti-poaching patrols, community-based programs, and policy efforts to regulate trade in ivory. Protection success varies by country and region, and ongoing monitoring and adaptive strategies are critical to stabilize and recover populations.

Notable distinctions and human significance

The African bush elephant is distinct from its forest-dwelling relative in body size, ear shape, and ecological role. Its presence has profound ecological and cultural importance across its range: it shapes habitats, supports tourism and local livelihoods, and features in many cultural traditions. Effective conservation is therefore both an ecological and a socio-economic priority for countries across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Features

Habitus

The African elephant is the largest living land mammal and is relatively easy to recognise by its trunk, tusks, large ears and columnar legs. The head-torso length is 600 to 750 cm, and the tail grows another 100 to 150 cm long. A fully grown bull has a shoulder height of 290 to 370 cm, according to studies in Amboseli National Park. Cows are on average smaller, measuring 250 to 300 cm. For the Kruger National Park, size values for males are a maximum of 345 cm, for females 274 cm, with 255 cm rarely exceeded. Maximum weights for bulls are given as 6048 kg, for cows 3232 kg. One particularly large individual weighed 6569 kg. The largest scientifically measured specimen, an animal from Fenykoevi in Angola, had a shoulder height of 400 cm and a weight of about 10 t; it is now on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

The head is massive and large, broader in adult bulls than in cows and younger individuals. In contrast to the high-arched, bicuspid forehead of the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), the African elephant has a flat, receding forehead. The characteristic large ears measure about 120 cm in width and up to 200 cm in height. Their outline is somewhat reminiscent of the contours of the African continent. They are significantly larger compared to the Asian elephant. The trunk ends in two "fingers", the Asian elephant has only one. Another difference to the Asian elephant can be found in the course of the back, which is rather saddled in the African elephant, so that the highest point is reached at the shoulders. The Asian elephant has a characteristic humped back and the highest point of the body is on the forehead. The forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis), on the other hand, has a rather straight back line. The general skin coloration corresponds to a pale gray to brown tone, in rare cases light, pigment-free spots are visible. The thickness of the skin reaches up to 40 mm on the legs, the front of the head and on the back, it is generally wrinkled. The body hair is sparsely distributed over the body. However, young animals often have a loose, reddish-brown coat. Longer hairs on adults are usually only on the chin and trunk, and are about 40 mm long. In addition, there is a tuft of up to 50 cm long, partly blackish shiny hairs at the end of the tail. The front and hind feet each have five toes. Externally, four to five hoof-like nails are developed in front and three to five in the rear. The sole is soft and cracked as well as individually shaped. It leaves characteristic roundish marks. Those of the forefeet generally exceed those of the hindfeet. The length of the hind feet varies from 34 to 54 cm, it is proportional to the shoulder height of an animal.

Skull and dentition characteristics

The skull is generally built large, a measured specimen had a length of 92 cm and at the zygomatic arches a width of 73 cm. Compared to the Asian elephant, the skull of the African elephant is clearly more rounded and less high. The forehead line in the front view of the African elephants is rather straight or curved and not as distinctively indented as in the Asian elephants. Typical of elephant skulls are the extensive air-filled chambers in the top of the skull, reminiscent of honeycombs. On the one hand, they reduce the weight of the skull, but on the other hand, they also increase the surface area, which provides more attachment surfaces for the massive neck and masticatory muscles. Due to the extreme pneumatizations, the skull can be up to 30 or 40 cm thick. The facial region of the skull is formed by the nasal bones, the maxilla, the zygomatic bone and the middle jaw bone. The nasal bone appears small due to the trunk formation, and the nasal opening is at the level of the orbit and thus lower than in the Asian elephant. The middle jaw bone forms the outer shell of the alveoli of the tusks. In the African elephant, the alveoli are laterally spaced and project slightly forward, whereas in the Asian elephant they are directed directly downward. As a general characteristic of Tethytheria, the median jawbone fuses with the frontal bone, among others. The frontal bone itself is very broad and rounded in design in the African elephant, but narrow in the Asian elephant as it retracts above the nasal opening. The parietal bones represent the largest bones of the skull. On them, a small furrow runs downwards, which is more prominent in the Asian elephant. On the occipital bone, the articular surfaces for articulation with the cervical spine point clearly backwards. They are also at the level of the orbit and thus lower than in the Asian counterpart. The external auditory canal is located immediately near the occipital joints, whereas it is positioned lower in the Asian elephant.

The lower jaw has a rather graceful structure with a long and low horizontal bone body. It differs from the broad and swollen lower jaw of the Asian elephant. When viewed from above, it is V-shaped, whereas that of the Asian elephant is more U-shaped. Overall, the mandible consists of massive, compact bone. The symphysis at the front of the lower jaw, which connects the two arches of the jaw, extends forward in a long and narrow process. The bone joint itself is relatively and absolutely shorter than in the smaller forest elephant, averaging 17 cm in length. Several openings are formed on the outside, called the lateral and middle mental foramen. The posterior end of the mandible appears rounded by the curved angular process. The ascending branch is broad, and the crown process rises only slightly above the masticatory plane and lies about halfway along the entire length of the mandible. It is straight in shape in contrast to the rounded crown process of the Asian elephant. The articular process in turn runs straight up and not angled inward as in the Asian relative. On the inner side of the ascending branch a large foramen mandibulae opens. The outer side, on the other hand, harbors the shallowly indented fossa masseterica, which is not as deeply pronounced as in the Asian elephant.

The dentition is composed of 26 teeth grouped into the following dental formula: ${\frac {1.0.3.3.}{0.0.3.3.}}$ . Characteristically, the tusks are formed only in the upper dentition and consist of the respective hypertrophied second incisors. In contrast to the Asian elephant, the tusks of the African elephant are usually found in both males and females. The tusks have a clearly curved and partly outwardly bent course, deviating from those of the forest elephant with their rather straight form. Record sizes reach up to 345 cm. An extremely large pair of tusks comes from an individual from Kilimanjaro with lengths of 319 and 311 cm respectively and weights of 97 and 102 kg respectively. In the Kruger National Park the heaviest tusk of a cow so far weighed about 11 kg, but weights over 7 kg are rarely reached. In old bulls, the largest weights recorded so far were 73.5 and 69 kg respectively. The basal diameter of male tusks varies between 15.5 and 19.6 cm, that of females between 8 and 11.9 cm. In bulls, they grow both in length and width throughout their lives. In contrast, after the age of 15, the tusks of the cow develop only in length, and at a much slower rate than in the bull; they therefore appear more slender than those of males. A discrepancy in size frequently occurs between the left and right tusks of an individual, which is due in each case to a more intensive use of one of the two tusks. This difference in use points to a certain "tuskiness" (in the sense of handedness) in the African elephant. The tusks are already laid out as "tusks" in the embryonic stage, but do not come to eruption. Later, the permanent tusks replace the "tusks".

As in all modern elephants, the posterior dentition consists of three premolars and three molars per half of the jaw. The change of teeth takes place horizontally, in that a new tooth pushes out from behind when the previous one is largely chewed off. As a result, the African elephant (like the Asian elephant) changes its teeth a total of five times after the first tooth (premolar dP2) erupts. Usually the first tooth is already functional at birth and falls out at the age of 1 to 2 years. The eruption of the other teeth occurs for the premolars at 1.5 (premolar dP3) and 2 years (premolar dP4) and for the molars at 5 (molar M1), 15 (molar M2) and 23 years (molar M3). The corresponding loss occurs at 3 to 4 (dP3), 9 to 10 (dP4), 19 to 25 (M1), 43 (M2) and around 65 (M3) years. However, there is a high individual range here. The horizontal change of teeth has the additional effect that only one to a maximum of one and a half teeth per jaw half are in use at the same time. In the overall dental structure, the African elephant represents the more conservative form compared to the Asian elephant. Thus, the teeth generally have lower dental crowns compared to their Asian cousin. As with all representatives of the elephants, both the premolars and molars consist of several lamellar enamel folds. The number varies between teeth, the second premolar consists of five enamel folds, the third molar of an average of 13 with variations between 14 and 16. The lamellar frequency is thus on average 5.5 (number of lamellae per 10 cm of tooth length). Both characteristics are significantly lower than in the Asian elephant. In contrast, the enamel of each lamella is markedly thicker at 2 to 5 mm. When viewed from above the chewing surface, the enamel curves outward in a diamond shape approximately in the middle of each enamel fold, whereas in the Asian elephant it is largely parallel. The last molar is the largest grinder in the dentition. It can grow up to 21 cm long and reach a weight of about 3.7 kg. The first premolar, on the other hand, is only 2.4 cm long and weighs just under 10 g.

Skull of the African elephant; clearly visible are the nasal opening in the middle and the alveoli of the tusks below.

Molar teeth of elephants in comparison. Top: African elephant. Middle: Asian elephant. Bottom: Woolly mammoth.

Distribution

The original range of the African elephant encompassed the entire African continent and once included northern Africa as far as the Mediterranean coast and southern Africa as far as the Cape of Good Hope. Evidence of this includes various rock paintings and ancient historical accounts. However, climatic fluctuations during the Holocene displaced the species from the extremely arid landscapes. The northern populations finally disappeared already in the first centuries of the modern era. Today's occurrence is limited to sub-Saharan Africa. According to estimates, African elephants today inhabit an area of just under 5.2 million square kilometres, of which slightly more than half is accounted for by Central and West Africa, where the forest elephant also occurs. As a result, the current range of the African elephant occupies only about 20% of its former habitat. The populated landscapes are highly fragmented and patchy, with individual areas rarely visited by the African elephant. The decline in the distribution of the African elephant is mainly due to ivory poaching and habitat destruction. This affects areas in West and South Africa, among others. A small population of around three hundred desert-dwelling elephants persists in Mali near Gourma, while a larger group of over 3000 individuals is found in the WAP National Park complex. Other northern populations are found in Chad, which also represents the northern limit of the present distribution. In adjacent Central Africa and in more southern West Africa, the African elephant is replaced by the smaller forest elephant. Here, among other places, there is a more or less wide corridor where the two species hybridize. Comparatively common in East Africa, the African elephant occurs here in numerous fragmented habitats in Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania. The largest contiguous population is found in the northern part of southern Africa, extending from Namibia and Angola in the west eastward through Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. From the southern part of southern Africa, the African elephant has largely disappeared. However, it has been reintroduced in various places by animals from the Kruger National Park.

The African elephant has adapted to a variety of habitats. These consist of semi-deserts, open grasslands and savannahs, floodplains or swamps, as well as a variety of different forest biotopes such as gallery forests, mountain forests or tropical lowland rainforests. Prerequisites for the presence of the African elephant are sufficient water and food. Shade or refuge areas for protection also play an important role in their distribution. Elephants do not usually live in deserts. Exceptions are the already mentioned populations of the southern Sahara in Mali and the border areas to the Namib, for example Kaokoveld and Damaraland, in Namibia, where there are also some populations of "desert elephants". In the mountains, the African elephant is occasionally found at altitudes up to 4875 m, such as on Mount Kilimanjaro; however, its preferred habitat is in the lowlands.

The highly fragmented range of the African elephant results in varying population sizes and densities. In open grasslands, the number of animals is about 0.5 to 2 individuals per square kilometre; it can increase to about 5 per square kilometre in areas of forested land with rich food supply, such as in Lake Manyara National Park. For ecological reasons, however, such high population densities are considered rather unstable over a long period of time. Dense forests or deserts, on the other hand, usually support only a small population of animals. Estimates of the total number of individuals in Africa are difficult, as they require a clear separation at least for those countries with a co-occurrence of the forest elephant and/or hybrids between the two species. For 2007, the figures were about 496,000 individuals in western, eastern and southern Africa, and for 1991, roughly 267,000 to 372,000 were assumed. The Great Elephant Census yielded a total of 352,000 animals in 18 countries for 2014, a 30% decline from 2007. According to this, the largest populations are found in the northern part of southern Africa, i.e. the area with the largest contiguous population, where about 234,000 animals live, followed by eastern Africa with about 73,000 animals.

Distribution of the African elephant: Year round occurrence Probable year-round occurrence Population probably extinct Resettlement areas