The common name is the African Elephant, the scientific name is LoxodontaAfricana, the phylum is Vertebrata, the class is Mammalia, the order is Proboscidea,and the family is Elephantidae. The Closest Relatives to the African Elephant are: theAsian Elephant, mammoths, primitive proboscidean (mastodons), sea cows, andhyraxes.
Scientists believe that the African Elephant evolved from one of its closestrelatives, the Sea Cow. The geographical location and range of the African elephant covers all ofcentral and southern Africa. In Ethiopia there are isolated populations that existaround Lake Chad in Mali and Mauritania. Also in Kenya, Rhodesia, Tanzania,Zambia, Uganda, Zaire, and in National parks located in South Africa, as well asseveral other countries. African Elephants, originally, were found in all of theSub-Saharan African habitats except desert steppes.
Elephants still occupy diversehabitats such as: temperate grassland, tropical savanna and grass lands, temperateforest and rainforest, tropical rainforest, tropical scrub forest, and tropical deciduousforest despite their drastic decline in numbers. However, their migratory patterns andhabitat use have changed, due to the fact that they are restricted to protected areas. The elephant can exist in many types of environments but it prefers places that havemany trees and bushes, which the elephant needs both for food and shade. They alsolike warm areas that have plenty of rainfall. This ensures plenty of food, shade, andwater. The elephant prefers a habitat of mixed woodland and grassland which givesthem an opportunity to eat a variety of vegetation.
African Elephants are considered herbivores, they are both browsers andgrazers; they will eat rough sticks, stems and leaves of plants as well as grasses,sedges, and fruit. Their favorites are mangoes, berries and coconuts. An elephant eatsup to 500 pounds of vegetation every day and drinks up to 50 gallons of water daily. Elephants must consume these giant quantities of food, due to their poor digestivesystem.
The small intestine is 82 feet long, the large intestine 21 feet long, and therectum adds a further 13 feet. The problem with the digestive tract lies in their gut;elephants have too few symbiotic bacteria. These are the organisms which help breakdown the cellulose of plant cell walls by producing enzymes called cellulases. Themost remarkable feature of the elephants digestive system is its 5 feet long appendix,bigger than the stomach. Proteins, starches, and sugars are digested in the appendix. The elephant will excrete almost 200 pounds a day of semi-digested food.
Elephants live together in strong family units which might have as few as two oras many as twenty members. When the group gets too big, it splits up; but the groupsstay in close contact. Elephant life revolves around this unit which is usually headedby the oldest female. The family offers protection, aid, comfort, and teaching to all ofits members.
Within the units are cows, calves, and bulls. The male bulls are verysolitary and most of the time travel only with other males, except during mating seasonwhen the bulls travel with the pack looking for a mate. The males remain with thefamily unit until they are about fourteen and then leave the family to join the othermales. The African elephant usually gives birth to one calf every four years. Thegestation period is approximately twenty to twenty two years. The newborn calf,which weighs 200-300 pounds and stands about three feet high, is cared for by all ofthe females in the pack, not just by the mother.
The calf may nurse as long as eightyears, or until its tusks are too long for the mother. It takes about 14 to 15 years for anelephant to fully mature. They grow to about 10-13 feet tall and 7. 5 meters in lengthand weigh as much as 7 tons.
The family will remain together throughout their lives. The elephants body has many special features which it has adapted throughoutthe centuries to help it survive in its environment. The most important part of theelephants body is its trunk. An elephant uses its trunk for many things.
With it, theelephant can pick up objects that weigh as much as 600 lbs. This powerful trunk isalso used to beat off attacking animals and sometimes mother elephants use theirtrunks to swat their babies. The trunk, which is very flexible, can curl over theelephants head so that the elephant can give itself showers and dust baths. The trunkalso curls towards the elephants mouth so it can eat and drink.
At the end of the trunkthe elephant has finger-like projections similar to the human thumb and forefinger. With this the elephant can pick up small objects. Baby elephants often suck theirtrunks just like human babies suck their thumbs. The nostrils at the tip of the trunk arehighly sensitive, an elephant can detect a water source from as far as 12 miles away,and detect the reproductive status of another elephant from some distance. The elephant also has tusks which can dig up roots and help the elephant dig atdried up river beds for water.
They also help the elephant fight off attackers. Thetusks are made of ivory and this is why the elephants are being poached. Poachers canearn $5,000 for just 40 pounds of ivory tusks. Another unusual part of the elephants body is its huge ears which can be fourfeet wide in the male African elephant.
With their huge ears the elephant can swatbugs, look fierce, and keep itself cool. Although the ears are so big the elephant haspoor hearing and rely on their sense of smell. Since the elephant cannot sweat torelease heat, they must have another means of releasing their body heat. The elephantwill repeatedly beat its ears along the side of its head. When they do this the blood inits ears cools and the cool blood is then circulated to the rest of the body.
Thewrinkles in their skin help to increase the surface area of the elephant, which helps incooling, and mud and water are also trapped under the wrinkles, further helping theelephant to keep cool. The elephant has four molars on each side of its mouth. The molars of adultelephants are the size of bricks. There They get six new sets of molars in a lifetime. They get their last set when they are about 45 years old, and after those fall out theelephant will starve to death. Elephants are highly intelligent animals.
They have very large andwell-developed brains and excellent memories. Elephants have strange habits andways of communication. One means of communication is trumpeting. They havedifferent tones of trumpeting which indicate different moods, such as playfulness andexcitement. Trumpeting is also used to frighten off attackers. Their most importantway to communicate is what is called stomach rumbles although the sound actuallycomes from its throat.
Scientists have found fifteen types of rumbles indicatingdifferent things. One rumble means for the herd to move on, loud rumbles are used togreet family members and other rumbles help them locate each other. Scientists eventhink that elephants communicate long-distance with these rumbles, which areinfrasound, low frequency waves which travel many miles. Elephants can hear andproduce low notes in the region of 14-16 Hz, well below the range of the human ear. Elephants often communicate a lot when they are grieving over the death of a familymember. Because the family is so important, young elephants are very upset whenothers die.
Elephants have been known to bury their dead with twigs and leaves andstay by the graves for many hours. In 1930 there were five to ten million elephants in Africa but because ofpoaching and some natural disasters (fires, droughts) their numbers were reduced toabout 1. 3 million by 1976 and to about 600,000 now. The African elephant was reallythreatened by hunters and poachers during the years 1978-1989 and was declared anendangered species in 1989. CITES currently lists the African elephant on appendix I,meaning all trade regarding this animal is prohibited.
However, since 1989 it has beenmaking a strong comeback because of the efforts of many people and countries toprotect them. In some African countries they are now so over-populated in the landsleft available to them that scientists are trying to invent a form of birth-control forelephants. Hunting of the elephant is banned but poaching for ivory is stillwidespread. In 1989 a stack of 3,000 confiscated tusks are worth about $3 milliondollars was burned by Kenyas president.
Kenya is one of the many countries takingsteps to save the elephants. In Tsavo East National Park in Kenya a group called theAnti-poaching Rangers patrol the park. Their job is to follow the shoot-to-kill orderissues by the president. BibliographyGaeth, A.
P. The Developing Renal, Reproductive, and Respiratory systems of the African Elephant Suggest an Aquatic Ancestry. Proceeding of the NationalAcademy of Sciences of the United States of America Volume 96, No 10. May 11, 1999 pg. 5555-5558This primary source gave us information on the ancestry of the African Elephant,such as their closest relatives.
It also told us the endangered status of the animal. Groning, Karl. , and Martin Saller. Elephants A Cultural and Natural HistoryKONEMANN 1999. This source gave us information on all aspects of the elephants physicalcomposition, specifically the digestive system, and homeostatic mechanisms.
Hoare, Richard E. , and Johan T. Du Toit. Coexistence between People and Elephants in African Savannas Conservation Biology Volume 13, No 3.
June 1999 pg. 633-639 This primary source gave us details on elephant population in regards to humansettlement. Moore, Tara. The Endangered Species Elephants.
pp. 15-20, 27-32. Champaign, IL: Garrad Publishing Company 1982. This source delt with some of the basic facts about the elephant, such as their diet andgeographical location and range. Norton, Boyd.
The African Elephant: Last Days of Eden. Stillwater, MN: Voyageur Press, 1991. This source gave us information on population figures, poaching, natural disasters,and birth control methods. Overbeck, Cynthia. Elephants.
Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company, 1983This source gave us information on the family groups of elephants, and on theirmethods of communication, and also detail about their tusks, and trunks as defensivemechanisms.
