African Elephant ( Loxodonta africana )
African Elephant - African Elephant information - African Elephant facts, pictures, photos
Loxodonta Africana is the largest living mammal in the land. Its length is up to 7.5 meters (25 feet) with the tail of 1.4 meters (4.4 feet). It is over 3.6 meters high (over 11.5 feet) and weighs 5 800 kilograms (almost 13 000 pounds). African elephant lives in sub-Saharan Africa. There it inhabits savannas and forests.
This huge mammal has got grey colored fur, large ears, long ivory tusks, a powerful trunk and heavy 4 legs. Its ears enable it to cool off its head and to get rid of bugs. With its trunk it can drink water, bath, smell, grasp and bring food. Its diet mainly consists of bark, grass, leaves, fruit etc. It is able to eat over 140 kg of food per day! To pick up small objects they use finger tips, which are located at the end of their trunk. In comparison to the Asian Elephant, the African Elephant has got 2 finger tips whereas the Asian Elephant has got only one.
African elephants usually live in small groups which are led by an older female elephant. The males prefer a solitary life meeting up with the females only for the sake of mating. Mating occurs all year long with the gestation period of approximately 2 years. One calf is born afterwards. These days Loxodonta Africana belongs to the endangered species. Their main threat is still poaching. Poachers hunt them because of their ivory tusks. Unfortunately their natural habitat is also getting smaller, which is another important reason of their small living numbers in the world.
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