African Elephant facts: the largest living land animals | Animal Fact Files

African elephants are the largest living land animals in the world. They are currently listed as threatened by extinction. While they do have predators like lions, hyenas, wild dogs, and crocodiles, the greatest threats to African elephant populations are anthropogenic. African elephants spend most of their waking hours eating - some may eat upwards of 300 pounds (136kg) in a single day! In fact, African elephants have to eat so much food that they end up only sleeping about four hours each day. What a wonderful life. African elephant clans are made up of mostly females and immature males. Mature males live alone or in loose bachelor groups. The largest female of the group is typically the matriarch and her offspring are the first in line for taking over responsibility for the clan when she passes. African elephants are know to mourn the passing of their group members and are believed to have an excellent memory.

Scientific Name: Genus - Loxodonta
- African savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana)
- African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis)
Range: fragmented populations across Africa mostly confined to protected sanctuaries
Size: 4,400 and 13,450 pounds (2,000-6,100kg) in weight; 7 to 13 feet (2.2-4m) at shoulder height
Diet: fruits, grasses, bark, and twigs
Lifespan: up to 70 years

✨ Animal Fact Files Patreon Supporters get early access to videos, get their video requests moved to the top of our request list, and more! ✨
👉 https://www.patreon.com/animalfactfiles

You can learn more on:
Twitter - https://twitter.com/animalfactfiles
Facebook - https://facebook.com/animalfactfiles

---


sgustin78 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/sgustin/4112905148; https://www.flickr.com/photos/sgustin/4112963416
Joe Turco - https://www.flickr.com/photos/....turcophotos/82970597
Michael Sprague - https://www.flickr.com/photos/msprague/9454073124
Cyndy Sims Parr - https://www.flickr.com/photos/....cyanocorax/215560422 https://www.flickr.com/photos/....cyanocorax/215560731
brando - https://www.flickr.com/photos/bpprice/45557244924; https://www.flickr.com/photos/bpprice/45583810084
Bernard DUPONT - https://www.flickr.com/photos/....berniedup/3249548101 https://www.flickr.com/photos/....berniedup/3330160659 https://www.flickr.com/photos/....berniedup/3273344372 https://www.flickr.com/photos/....berniedup/1712319185 https://www.flickr.com/photos/....berniedup/1654873448 https://www.flickr.com/photos/....berniedup/3219605688


Bamse - https://commons.wikimedia.org/....wiki/File:African_El
Cephas - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/....File:Loxodonta_cyclo


Stand Up for Nature - https://www.videvo.net/video/e....lephant-grazing-in-a https://www.videvo.net/video/h....erd-of-elephants-in- https://www.videvo.net/video/e....lephant-tail-swingin
sraosha - https://freesound.org/people/sraosha/sounds/371476
In the Shadows of the Congo Basin Forest, Elephants Fall to the Illegal Ivory Trade Gross L PLoS Biology Vol. 5, No. 4, e115 doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050115 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/....File:Loxodontacyclot


Research Credits:
https://animaldiversity.org/ac....counts/Loxodonta_afr
https://animaldiversity.org/ac....counts/Loxodonta_cyc
https://www.sciencedirect.com/....topics/agricultural-
https://www.sciencedirect.com/....topics/agricultural--africana
https://www.worldwildlife.org/....species/african-elep
https://www.nationalgeographic.....com/animals/mammals
https://wwf.panda.org/knowledg....e_hub/endangered_spe
https://www.smithsonianmag.com..../science-nature/do-a
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/....African_forest_eleph