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title: "What the sources say about the African Bush Elephant | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "42 claims from the African Bush Elephant profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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# What the sources say about the African Bush Elephant (*Loxodonta africana*)

> 42 claims from the African Bush Elephant profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [African Bush Elephant](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/african-elephant/)

## African elephant species now Endangered and Critically Endangered - IUCN Red List.

https://iucn.org/news/species/202103/african-elephant-species-now-endangered-and-critically-endangered-iucn-red-list

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Endangered | The African savanna elephant ( loxodonta africana ) is now listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. (note: backs stats.conservationStatus) |
| The IUCN only started assessing African elephants as two separate species in 2021, after new genetic evidence emerged. Before that, both were lumped together as one species, listed as Vulnerable | Gland, Switzerland, 25 March 2021 (IUCN) - Following population declines over several decades due to poaching for ivory and loss of habitat, the African forest elephant ( Loxodonta cyclotis ) is now listed as Critically Endangered and the African savanna elephant ( Loxodonta africana ) as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ . Before today’s update, African elephants were treated as a single species, listed as Vulnerable; this is the first time the two species have been assessed separately for the IUCN Red List, following the emergence of new genetic evidence. |
| The forest elephant, *Loxodonta cyclotis*, was placed straight into Critically Endangered | the African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) is now listed as Critically Endangered |
| came in one step better at Endangered, but its population has still fallen by at least 60% over the last 50 years | the population of African savanna elephants decreased by at least 60% over the last 50 years, according to the assessments |
| Poaching for ivory drove much of that decline; it spiked after 2008 and peaked in 2011 | Both species suffered sharp declines since 2008 due to a significant increase in poaching, which peaked in 2011 but continues to threaten populations. |
| Turning elephant habitat into farmland is another serious, ongoing threat | The ongoing conversion of their habitats, primarily to agricultural and other land uses, is another significant threat. |
| The African savanna elephant has been listed as Endangered since 2021, when the IUCN assessed it separately from the African forest elephant for the first time | Gland, Switzerland, 25 March 2021 (IUCN) - Following population declines over several decades due to poaching for ivory and loss of habitat, the African forest elephant ( Loxodonta cyclotis ) is now listed as Critically Endangered and the African savanna elephant ( Loxodonta africana ) as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ . Before today’s update, African elephants were treated as a single species, listed as Vulnerable; this is the first time the two species have been assessed separately for the IUCN Red List, following the emergence of new genetic evidence. |
| Its population has fallen by at least 60% over the last 50 years, driven by ivory poaching and by farms and other land uses taking over its habitat | Following population declines over several decades due to poaching for ivory and loss of habitat ... the population of African savanna elephants decreased by at least 60% over the last 50 years ... The ongoing conversion of their habitats, primarily to agricultural and other land uses, is another significant threat. |
| Before that, both were lumped together as one species, listed as Vulnerable | Before today’s update, African elephants were treated as a single species, listed as Vulnerable |

## African Elephants (Loxodonta africana and L. cyclotis) Fact Sheet. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Library, 2025.

https://ielc.libguides.com/sdzg/factsheets/african_elephant

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Grasslands, woodlands, forests, scrub, wet marshes, and some arid deserts | Savanna elephant: Wide variety of habitats, including grasslands, woodlands, lowland rainforests, montane forests, scrub habitats, wet marshes, some arid deserts, etc. |
| Bulls average about 6,000 kilograms and cows around 2,800 kilograms | Savanna elephant: Male: 6,000 kg (13,000 lb), on average / Female: 2,800 kg (6,100 lb), on average |
| head-to-body length of 6 to 7.5 metres | Savanna elephant: 600-750 cm (20-25 ft) (note: 6 to 7.5 m, converted from the source's 600-750 cm) |
| In the wild, African elephants likely live about 30 to 40 years | For wild populations, life expectancy varies depending on population, sex, amount of poaching pressure, etc. ... likely about 30 to 40 years. |
| In a drought, an experienced matriarch uses what she knows about water and food to lead her herd across long distances | During drought, experienced savanna elephant matriarchs use their knowledge of water and food sources to lead herds across long distances. |
| A cow typically waits three to five years before her next calf, and sometimes as long as nine and a half | Savanna elephant: Typically, about 3 to 5 years (range: 3 to 9.5 years)-but varies between and within populations. |

## Elephant. San Diego Zoo Animals & Plants.

https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/elephant

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Largest land mammal alive | African elephants are the largest mammals on land. |
| matriarch-led herds | The leader of the herd is known as the matriarch; she is usually the oldest and most experienced female in the group. |
| A boneless trunk built from around 150,000 muscle fascicles | There are eight major muscles on each side of the trunk and 150,000 muscle fascicles (portions of muscles) throughout the entire trunk. There are no bones or cartilage in this unique appendage. |
| an adult male, weighed roughly 10,886 kilograms and stood 3.96 metres at the shoulder | The largest elephant on record was an adult male African savanna elephant. He weighed about 24,000 pounds (10,886 kilograms) and was 13 feet (3.96 meters) tall at the shoulder! |
| a healthy adult's only real threat is people | A healthy adult elephant's only real threat are people. |
| An elephant's trunk serves as both its upper lip and its nose, and there isn't a single bone or piece of cartilage inside it | An elephant’s trunk serves as both an upper lip and a nose. ... There are no bones or cartilage in this unique appendage. |
| eight major muscles down each side and around 150,000 muscle fascicles running through the whole structure | There are eight major muscles on each side of the trunk and 150,000 muscle fascicles (portions of muscles) throughout the entire trunk. |
| strong enough to pick up large tree trunks and nimble enough to pick up a single piece of straw | An elephant's trunk is so strong it can pick up large tree trunks and so agile that it can pick up a single piece of straw. |
| African elephants finish the trunk in two finger-like lobes at the tip; Asian elephants have only one | African elephants (both species) have large ears shaped like the continent of Africa, both males and females have visible tusks, their skin is very wrinkly, their back is swayed, and the end of their trunk works as if they have two fingers there to help them pick things up ... Asian elephants have smaller ears, usually only the males have visible tusks, females have small tusks called "tushes," they only have one "finger" at the end of their trunk, and their back is dome-shaped. |
| It doesn't drink like a straw, either: an elephant sucks water only part way up the trunk, curls it toward its mouth, tilts its head up and lets the water pour in | the water doesn’t go all the way up the nose like a straw; instead, the elephant sucks water only part way up the trunk, curls it toward its mouth, tilts its head up, and lets the water from the trunk pour in |
| when an elephant flaps its ears on a hot day, blood flowing through the many vessels spread across them cools down | An elephant's ears work like a radiator. As elephants flap their ears on a hot day, their blood flows through many blood vessels spread throughout their large ears and cools down. |
| The Largest Land Mammal Alive | African elephants are the largest mammals on land. (note: heading; same fact as the body's first sentence) |
| The African savanna elephant is the largest land mammal alive. | African elephants are the largest mammals on land. |
| The biggest individual ever recorded, an adult male, weighed roughly 10,886 kilograms and stood 3.96 metres at the shoulder. | The largest elephant on record was an adult male African savanna elephant. He weighed about 24,000 pounds (10,886 kilograms) and was 13 feet (3.96 meters) tall at the shoulder! |
| A herd is usually led by its oldest female, the matriarch | The leader of the herd is known as the matriarch; she is usually the oldest and most experienced female in the group. |
| San Diego Zoo counts eight major muscles running down each side plus around 150,000 muscle fascicles, or portions of muscle, through the whole structure | There are eight major muscles on each side of the trunk and 150,000 muscle fascicles (portions of muscles) throughout the entire trunk. There are no bones or cartilage in this unique appendage. An elephant's trunk is so strong it can pick up large tree trunks and so agile that it can pick up a single piece of straw. (note: FAQ 1 answer, reworded from the body's version of the same fact) |
| San Diego Zoo compares them to a radiator | An elephant’s ears work like a radiator. |

## Loxodonta africana. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Loxodonta_africana/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Grasses, leaves, bark, roots, and fruit, browsed and grazed almost continuously through the day | African elephants have a herbivorous diet consisting of tree foliage, fruits, herbs, grasses, and wood including roots, twigs, and bark. ... African elephants will feed continuously throughout the day, eating opportunistically. ... African elephants are both browsers and grazers. |
| Lions, wild dogs, hyenas and Nile crocodiles all prey on elephants, but mostly on young ones that lag behind the herd | While lions (Panthera leo), wild dogs (Lycaon pictus), hyenas (Crocuta crocuta), and Nile crocodiles (Crocodilus niloticus) are predators of African elephants, the majority of these predators prey on the young elephants that lag behind the rest of their group. |
| Many elephant calls are deep rumbles of about 20 hertz, and elephants can hear one from more than two kilometres away | Many of their calls are low frequency calls of ca. 20Hz. ... The African elephants can hear one of these calls from over 2km away. |
| deep rumbles of about 20 hertz that other elephants can hear from more than two kilometres away | Many of their calls are low frequency calls of ca. 20Hz. ... The African elephants can hear one of these calls from over 2km away. (note: vibe.reason (women artists)) |

## O'Connell-Rodwell et al. (2004). Elephant low-frequency vocalizations propagate in the ground and seismic playbacks of these vocalizations are detectable by wild African elephants (Loxodonta africana). The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

https://doi.org/10.1121/1.4783836

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| rumbles felt through the ground | Low-frequency elephant vocalizations were reproduced seismically and played back to ... elephant breeding herds in the wild ... Breeding herds detected and responded appropriately to seismically transmitted elephant warning calls. |
| rumbles that travel through the ground as well as the air | propagate in the ground at different velocities, with the potential of traveling farther than their airborne counterparts |
| Part of that signal also travels through the ground, where it has the potential to carry farther than the sound in the air | propagate in the ground at different velocities, with the potential of traveling farther than their airborne counterparts (note: reviewer edit; replaced an unsupported absolute ("never leaves the ground") with what the abstract actually states) |
| Researchers reproduced African elephant warning calls as seismic vibrations and played them into the earth near wild breeding herds. The herds detected the signal and reacted to it as a warning. The team judged that from the elephants' behaviour, the spacing between herd members and the time they spent at the waterhole | Low-frequency elephant vocalizations were reproduced seismically and played back to both a captive elephant and to elephant breeding herds in the wild, monitoring the elephants' behavioral responses, spacing between herd members and time spent at the water hole as an index of heightened vigilance. Breeding herds detected and responded appropriately to seismically transmitted elephant warning calls. |
| Researchers reproduced African elephant warning calls as seismic vibrations and played them into the ground near wild breeding herds. The herds detected the signal and reacted to it as a warning | Low-frequency elephant vocalizations were reproduced seismically and played back to both a captive elephant and to elephant breeding herds in the wild, monitoring the elephants' behavioral responses, spacing between herd members and time spent at the water hole as an index of heightened vigilance. Breeding herds detected and responded appropriately to seismically transmitted elephant warning calls. (note: FAQ 2 answer, says "ground" where the body says "earth" for the same fact) |

## Soppelsa et al. (2022). The relationship between distal trunk morphology and object grasping in the African savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana). PeerJ.

https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.13108

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| In a study of six African savanna elephants offered food of different shapes (cubes, flat pieces, and long thin ones), half of the elephants changed the shape of the trunk tip to match | quantified in six female African savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana). Three food item types were presented to the elephants (elongated, flat, and cubic) ... Half of the individuals adjusted the shape of the distal part of their trunk according to the object type. |