The Breakdown
The African Savanna Elephant, also called the African bush elephant, has tusks that can weigh as much as an adult human. It also has one of the longest pregnancies of any mammal, and it needs an enormous amount of food every day.
Needs an amount of food equal to the weight of 850 bowls of rice every day
To sustain themselves, African Savanna Elephants need up to about 170 kg of food and up to 190 litres of water a day. By weight, that food is roughly 850 bowls of cooked rice, and that water is about 760 glasses. Their diet consists of grass, plants, fruit, twigs, roots and tree bark, supplemented with minerals, particularly salt, which they find in some watering holes and by eating soil.
A near two-year pregnancy that may help calves better survive
Elephants are pregnant for about 22 months, with pregnancies lasting 620 to 680 days. Researchers suggest that brain development may be the most important reason for such a long pregnancy. Newborns show an advanced level of brain and cognitive capacity, which helps them recognise the complex social structure of the herd from their first day. Very young elephants can also already grab, stop and push objects with their trunks.
Endangered, with a declining population
The African Savanna Elephant is listed as Endangered, and its population is declining. Although some subpopulations are stable or increasing, the continental population is estimated to have fallen by more than 50% over the past three generations (75 years). This decline is understood to be continuing and likely irreversible. Poaching for ivory is a major cause, and rapid land use change is an increasing threat to its habitat.
Each tusk can weigh as much as an adult human
Adult African Elephants have two tusks, which are upper incisors. Each tusk of an adult male weighs 50 to 79 kg, grows about 17 cm a year and can reach up to 3.5 m long. One of the heaviest tusks ever weighed was more than 100 kg.
The largest living land animal
Guinness World Records lists the African Savanna Elephant as the largest mammal on land, with adult bulls typically weighing 4 to 7 tonnes and standing 3 to 3.7 m at the shoulder. The largest on record was even bigger: a bull in Angola in 1974, estimated to have stood about 3.96 m tall and weighed 12.24 tonnes.
Profile
COMMON NAME: African Savanna Elephant
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Loxodonta africana
HABITAT: Forest, savanna, shrubland, grassland, inland wetlands and desert
COUNTRIES: Sub-Saharan Africa, including Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe
SIZE: Males often 3.2 to 4 m tall at the shoulder
WEIGHT: Males about 4,500 to 6,100 kg
DIET: Grass, plants, fruit, twigs, roots and tree bark
LIFESPAN: Up to 70 years in the wild
