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Elephants are one of the most exciting and endearing of wild animals! Most people know that modern elephants fall into two species: the African elephant (Loxodonta africana), and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). But few people can really explain the differences between the two species -- other than continents of origin and perhaps ear size.
African Elephant (Loxodonta africana)
Habitat: The largest living land animal, the African elephant lives both on the grasslands (savannahs) and in the forests. African elephants in grasslands regions tend to live in larger groups than those who live in the forests. In fact, savannah elephants may join together in loosely knit clans of up to 70 members! But most often they can be found roaming about in a basic family unit of about 10 elephants. According to the WWF, important populations of African elephants occur in Tanzania, Botswana, and Zimbabwe, and probably in Congo, Gabon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus)
To learn more about Asian elephants, click here.
Basic Elephant Facts
Social Structure Elephant society is organized into two main groups: a matrifocal (meaning, "mother-centered") group consisting of adult females, their babies, and their female relatives; and a "bachelor" group consisting of adult males and younger adolescent males. The two groups may live very far apart and yet, somehow, adult males know exactly when a female has entered into the rare (and very brief) state of estrus during which she can can become pregnant. Suddenly males appear as if out of nowhere, arriving right on time to mate with the receptive female.
Life Cycle
Threats To Survival Poaching - Most people know that elephants have long been hunted for their ivory. In fact, in the 1970s half the elephant population of Africa disappeared -- ruthlessly slaughtered for their ivory tusks. But did you also know that in 1989, an international ban was imposed on the ivory trade? That means that while it is still legal to sell ivory within one's own country, it is illegal to export it to other countries (which is how the big money was made). Unfortunately, many tourists still purchase ivory trinkets and art objects while visiting African and Asian countries, and some people believe that it would be okay to allow some export of ivory, just to help out the economies of various African nations. Certainly we should not turn a deaf ear to the needs of our fellow humans, but is murdering such an exceptionally intelligent creature really the right solution? In addition to being threatened by the ivory trade, Asian elephants are also hunted for their hide and bone. In Thailand the hide is turned into shoes and hand bags. And in china the bone is is turned into bone ash and used in traditional medicines treating ulcers of the skin and stomach.
Habitat loss - An even greater threat to elephants -- at present -- than poaching may be habitat loss. Nearly everywhere that elephants live, there are human beings looking to turn the elephants' wild feeding and breeding grounds into domestic farm and ranch land. An elephant is a very large animal. Grass and leaves are not very calorie rich foods. Therefore, an elephant herd requires a vast territory to range over in order to consume enough plant food without stripping their feeding area bare. As elephants are forced onto smaller and smaller range territories, there is greater and greater threat that the very trees, bushes, and grasslands that support the elephants will become so badly damaged that they will no longer be able to regrow themselves and thus no longer be able to feed the elephants or all the other wild animals that feed there.
Even when the elephants are not being attacked however, this human disruption of the migration path is still doing harm -- elephants are unable to access the vast feeding areas that they need (see Habitat Loss, above), and they are unable to meet with members of other elephant family groups for social interaction and breeding.
The Elephant Book
(To benefit the Elefriends Campaign) "We can replant forests, and even reclaim deserts in time, but no one, when the last elephant has gone, can make another." Biologist Ian Redmond pays tribute to the pachyderm in The Elephant Book, with breathtaking photos of the African landscape. Divided into sections such as "The Architect of Africa," "Trunks and Tusks" and "Peaceful Coexistence," and peppered with quotes from the likes of David Attenborough and Jane Goodall, the book seeks to stop the ivory trade and eliminate poaching. Half the royalties go to the Elefriends Campaign, an elephant protection group based in London.
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Habitat Fragmentation - Now
that human beings have encroached so heavily on elephant habitats,
it is not always possible for elephants to follow their normal
migration paths. When elephants try to ignore the crops, fences, and
other structures in their way, the local human residents get very
alarmed and may sometimes retaliate. Sometimes the injuries are
accidental however-- an unfortunate by-product of human attempts to
scare elephants away from the area. Similarly, the critical overlap
of human and elephant habitats means that occasionally it is the
elephants who accidentally harm the humans.
High Risk Capture Procedures - In
Asia many people would rather capture a wild elephant and train it
than purchase one. Additionally, they find it much more attractive to
have a large, productive adult elephant now, than to breed
elephants and wait for the babies to grow up. But unfortunately, many
of the methods of capture used too often result in the death of the
elephant. Programs are currently underway to encourage rural people
to discontinue this risky methods, and to educate them successful
methods of raising their own elephants. But providing information
will not be enough. The fate of these wild elephants depends on the
willingness of human beings to act with compassion and integrity.
