African Elephant

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Loxodonta africana

The African elephant is one of our favourite animals, and every encounter we have with them is special and memorable. There’s just something so majestic in the confident swagger of the big bulls, so tender in the loving care of the cows and so playful in the antics of the calves.

Mature bulls weigh up to 6000kg and stand as high as 4m at the shoulder, while cows measure up to 3.4m high and weigh up to 4000kg. The forest elephant of Central Africa, a different race to those occuring here in South Africa, are much smaller.

Such a soulful eye…
Ivory up close
Elephant whiskers
Mature elephant bull
Elephant cow and calf
Elephant breakfast
Big bull standing tall at Lismore waterhole
Tiny calf staying close to mom at Spekboom
Elephant bull on the Gomondwane Loop

The herd is the core of elephant society, and comprises an older, experienced, dominant female or matriarch, her sisters and daughters, and their calves of varying ages. Sometimes these smaller family units join up with others to create massive congregations of 200 or more animals. Elephants are active throughout the day and night, resting in the shade only during the hottest hours of the day, usually near water. Their intelligence is legendary and the close bonds between herd members, who look after their sick and dying kin as much as they can, has always been an inspiration to humans.

Herd rushing to water
Playtime!
Elephant cows in Addo are mostly tuskless
Elephant herd crossing a road in Kruger Park
On the road in Pilanesberg National Park
Crossing the wide, sandy Letaba River
A tusk can be a useful resting place for a tired trunk
Elephants love playing in water, even big bulls like this
Elephants drinking at De La Porte waterhole
Crossing the Sabie
Elephants claiming the right of way
Wary elephant trio
Big elephant herd feeding in a reedbed
Another herd of elephants arriving at Hapoor
Elephants everywhere you look (Hapoor)
The next day, as we passed Hapoor, the elephants were getting together again
Elephant family
Herd of elephants on the dry plains south of Olifants
Protective elephant herd
Thirsty herd of elephants rushing to the water
Elephant crossing

Mature bulls are mostly solitary, or accompanied by younger bulls known as “askaris”, and maintain a dominance hierarchy through threat displays and fights that would sometimes lead to the death of one of the combatants. After being forced from their maternal herds at the onset of puberty, around 15 years of age, bulls will only join up with the breeding herds again temporarily to mate.

Impressive bull
Mature elephant bull
Elephant bull
Scratching an itchy ear
Mature bull exuding confidence
Play fighting
Drinking at Tembe
Splish-splash
Three big bulls walking in single file along a road in the Pilanesberg
Elephant in a downpour
Dominant bull striding up to welcome a newly arrived family group at Hapoor
Elephant bull on the way to Orpen
Here elephants have right of way!
Elephant bull
Tired old elephant bull crossing the road

Elephants are able to inhabit any habitat that has sufficient food, water and shade – they occur from the Namib Desert to Africa’s equatorial forests. They are big ecological drivers and a crucial component of the ecosystems in which they occur, having an immense impact on their environment. Their seemingly destructive feeding habits serves to prevent bush encroachment and provides niche habitats for a wide variety of smaller fauna. Consuming up to 300kg of plant material per day, the copious amounts of dung (about 100kg of dung per animal per day!) they produce provide an important source of food for a myriad of small animals, birds and insects. Elephants are not particularly fussy about what they eat and include herbs, grass, reeds, leaves, seeds, pods, bark, roots and branches in their diet, but they are rather fond of mopane trees and mlala palms. During times of drought, elephants will dig wells in apparently dry river beds, thus providing water not only for themselves but also for all other wildlife in the vicinity. An adult elephant requires between 150 and 300 liters of drinking water daily. After years of continuous use, elephant mudbaths are enlarged and transformed into pans and waterholes that hold water for extended periods into the dry season. Several of South Africa’s passes were built along tracks used by countless generations of elephants to cross our mountains.

A well dug by elephants in a dry streambed
Thanks to their trunk elephants have excellent reach when browsing
Marula tree damaged by a foraging elephant
Digging for roots
The trunk is so versatile!
The trunk is so versatile!
Elephant breakfast
A lone bull drinking from the trough at Peasland
Elephant calf

Elephant cows give birth to single calves (twins are extremely rare) at any time of year, after a 22-month gestation period. The calves weigh about 120kg at birth an can stand within an hour of being born. They are weaned at the age of two years, by which time they’ve become quite adept at using their trunks to feed and drink water.

Tiny elephant calf
Tiny elephant calf
Baby elephant threat display
Fits neatly under mom’s belly.
So small and cute
Didn’t realize mom has moved on 😉
Only a few days old
So small and cute
Playful elephant youngsters
Elephant Cow and Calf
Elephant friends
More cows and calves at Hapoor
More cows and calves at Hapoor
Very thirsty calf running for the water
Tiny calf staying close to mom at Spekboom
Tiny calf staying close to mom at Spekboom
Calf suckling at Marion Baree waterhole
Protective cow at Lismore waterhole
Elephant calf
Elephant calf
Elephant calf
Elephant calf
This little elephant was probably less than a day old and very unsteady on his feet

South Africa’s wild places is home to several “Big Tuskers“; elephant bulls carrying exceptionally long and heavy ivory. Many of them are named, and become tourist attractions in their own right; living monuments to South Africa’s proud conservation history. The longest tusks recorded in South Africa, 3.05m and 3.17m, belonged to Shawu, a tusker from the Kruger National Park that became famous as one of the “Magnificent Seven” in the 1970’s and ’80’s. The heaviest belonged to Mandleve, who died in 1993 and was also from Kruger, with a combined weight of over 142kg. Our biggest current tusker is Masthulele, a beautiful bull often encountered in the Kruger National Park.

Isilo of Tembe
Masbambela (of Kruger)
Tusker Masthulele, Kruger National Park

Being one of Africa’s famed “Big 5“, elephants are a sought-after species for anyone visiting wildlife reserves where they occur. However, elephants are extremely dangerous and should be treated with the utmost respect. They can charge at speeds of between 40 and 50km/h, much faster than any human can run. Bulls in musth, a heightened state of aggressiveness fueled by elevated testosterone levels that drives their urge to mate and fight for dominance, are very irritable and will charge without much provocation. Mothers are extremely protective of their calves and you should never find yourself between a cow and her offspring. It is always best when viewing elephants to give them plenty of space and pay attention to any warning signs they may give: a head held high, ears held wide open, trunk tucked under the body, shaking the head and ears are all signs that you are too close and need to move away fast.

Mock charge!
Lucky escape!
In playful mood
Better get a move on!
Showing off
Stretching
Agitated due to invisible lions
Showing off
If he chose to, this bull in the Pilanesberg could easily reach someone in the viewing hide.

Adult elephants have little to fear from other animals, and lions and spotted hyenas are the only predators that realistically pose a threat to calves and juveniles. Most elephants succumb to fights, sickness, drought or old age. Old elephants spend most of their time feeding on green, soft vegetation along watercourses, due to them having worn our their last set of molars at about the age of 55 years, finding it increasingly difficult to feed on harder plant material. They then eventually die in these areas, possibly giving rise to the myth of an elephant graveyard.

Trio of pied kingfishers sharing an elephant bone

Trio of pied kingfishers sharing an elephant bone

The Kruger National Park protects South Africa’s biggest elephant population, and they are also a familiar sight in the Addo Elephant National Park, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park, Mapungubwe National Park, Pilanesberg National Park and Tembe Elephant Park. Smaller populations have also been established on several other state and private reserves. The tiny population in the Knysna Forests in the Garden Route National Park has fascinated South Africans for decades, with lots of speculation and theories about just how many continue to roam there. Today, elephants in Africa and Asia are faced with the threats of escalating poaching, habitat loss and various other conflicts with humans. With an estimated 100 African elephants killed daily for the illegal ivory trade in Asian markets, their population is in rapid decline. World Elephant Day was launched on August 12th, 2012, to bring attention to the plight of these iconic animals, and has been observed annually since.

WORLD ELEPHANT DAY LOGOS CIRCLE_2015 V2-1

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62 thoughts on “African Elephant”

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  12. aj vosse

    Weer eens ‘n les van die beste!! Dankie. EEn feit wat ek nooit van gehoor het ne is die een van waar passe gebou was. Dit maak sin en laat mens dink aan hoe slim daai groot grys jasse rerig is!! 🙂

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  13. sonyaliraphotography

    I have always loved Elephants I think it’s the kindness in their eyes and their size that draws me to them. You have some beautiful pictures and you did a wonderful job capturing these beautiful creatures.

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  16. colonialist

    I’m not entirely convinced that the elephant graveyard thing is a myth – they have shown themselves to be aware of mortality and death.
    Dangerous they certainly are. I remember one in Gorongosa taking a dislike to our car and going into full charge. Have you ever heard how badly an engine whines when doing over 30KPH in reverse? I just hoped it wouldn’t seize up from over-revving before the elephant ran out of breath.

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    1. de Wets Wild Post author

      Few things on earth as terrifying as an elephant charge! And sometimes they seem to quite enjoy a bit of mischievous toying with the vehicles passing through their home ranges…

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    1. de Wets Wild Post author

      Thank you Annette! Indeed, we can’t imagine South Africa’s wild places without elephants. We’ll hold thumbs with you that you’ll get a chance to experience Africa’s elephants in their natural habitat, it is an experience you’ll never forget.

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  28. M.Winter

    First picture is amazing! The elephant looked like it was popping out (probably more ‘charging’) of the picture!
    And the baby elephant’s threat display was just too cute. Do they (baby ones)really make squeaky noises like how they’re portrayed in movies?

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    1. de Wets Wild Post author

      Thanks Maida! The bull in the featured image had us reversing for quite a few kilometers, laying claim to the road 😉

      The babies are surprisingly very vocal, and make a range of “screaming” high-pitched noises – practicing their trumpeting I suppose 😉

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