African forest elephant.
Photo is from my favorite book ANIMAL. The Definitive Visual Guide, by Smithsonian.
African forest elephant, by Peter H. Wrege
Do you think there are just 2 species of elephants? No, there are three! The African forest elephant is the second elephant that lives in Africa. It is my favorite elephant.
Its tusks point downward, to move away tall grass and bushes when walking. That is the difference from the African savanna elephant. Before, it was thought a subspecies of the African savanna elephant.
It is 4 meters long, one meter smaller than the Savanna elephant. They live in a group, which consists of 20 members. The females can start having calves at around 23 years old (the Savanna elephants start at 12 years old). It takes about 4-5 years to raise the calve because they have to teach them how to survive and find food and pick up things with their trunk. They eat by running through the forest, searching for fruit trees and picking off the fruit with the trunk. They also dig in the mud of the river for salt with their tusks.
They live in forests around the Congo river.
This year, IUCN declared them critically endangered because of… poaching for ivory and meat, loss of habitat, and slow reproduction rate. I wish there were more elephants, and especially African forest elephants, and that NOBODY poached them!
Wow, I have never heard of these elephants before… Now, I like them too!
Elephants are the most majestic of mammals, I think. Such grace and presence. Near my hometown, there is a park (Tsavo) that has 10,000 Savanna elephants, they say. I know they are many. I hope the forest ones can get their numbers up . . .
Very well written post. Elephants are my favorite mammals too.
Fun Fact – My grandfather back in India had an elephant for a pet. His name was Aappu. When we visited during our summer breaks, my sisters and I would get to ride on him every evening. Can you guess what kind of elephant it was?
Thank you! I did not know that you had a pet elephant! That is so cool! I think, Aappu is an Asiatic elephant. Am I right?