african bush elephant

{{See also|African elephant#Taxonomy}}

In the 19th and 20th centuries, several zoological specimens were described by naturalists and curators of natural history museums from various parts of Africa, including:

• Elephas (Loxodonta) oxyotis and Elephas (Loxodonta) knochenhaueri by Paul Matschie in 1900. The first was a specimen from the upper Atbara River in northern Ethiopia, and the second a specimen from the Kilwa area in Tanzania.{{cite journal |author=Matschie, P. |year=1900 |title=Geographische Abarten des Afrikanischen Elefanten |journal=Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin |volume=3 |pages=189–197 |url=https://archive.org/details/sitzungsberichte1900gese/page/196}}
• Elephas africanus toxotis, selousi, peeli, cavendishi, orleansi and rothschildi by Richard Lydekker in 1907 who assumed that ear size is a distinguishing character for a race. These specimens were shot in South Africa, Mashonaland in Zimbabwe, Aberdare Mountains and Lake Turkana area in Kenya, Somaliland, and western Sudan, respectively.{{cite journal |author=Lydekker, R. |year=1907 |title=The Ears as a Race-Character in the African Elephant |journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London |issue=January to April |pages=380–403 |doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.1907.tb01824.x |url=https://archive.org/details/proceedingsofzoo19071446zool/page/380}}
• North African elephant (L. a. pharaohensis) by Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala in 1948 was a specimen from Fayum in Egypt.{{cite book |author=Deraniyagala, P. E. P. |year=1955 |title=Some extinct elephants, their relatives, and the two living species |publisher=Ceylon National Museums Publication |location=Colombo}}

Today, these names are all considered synonyms.

A genetic study based on mitogenomic analysis revealed that the African and Asian elephant genetically diverged about 7.6 million years ago.{{cite journal |last1=Rohland |first1=N. |last2=Malaspinas |first2=A. S. |last3=Pollack, J. L. |last4=Slatkin, M. |last5=Matheus, P. |last6=Hofreiter, M. |name-list-style=amp |year=2007 |title=Proboscidean mitogenomics: chronology and mode of elephant evolution using mastodon as outgroup |journal=PLOS Biology |volume=5 |issue=8 |page=e207 |doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0050207 |pmc=1925134 |pmid=17676977 |doi-access=free }}

Phylogenetic analysis of nuclear DNA of African bush and forest elephants, Asian elephant, woolly mammoth, and American mastodon revealed that the African bush elephant and the African forest elephant form a sister group that genetically diverged at least 1.9 million years ago. They are therefore considered distinct species. Gene flow between the two species, however, might have occurred after the split.{{cite journal |last1=Rohland |first1=N.| last2=Reich |first2=D. |last3=Mallick |first3=S. |last4=Meyer |first4=M. |last5=Green |first5=R. E. |last6=Georgiadis |first6=N. J.|last7=Roca |first7=A. L. |last8=Hofreiter |first8=M. |name-list-style=amp |year=2010 |title=Genomic DNA Sequences from Mastodon and Woolly Mammoth Reveal Deep Speciation of Forest and Savanna Elephants |journal=PLOS Biology |volume=8 |issue=12 |page=e1000564 |doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.1000564 |pmc=3006346 |pmid=21203580 |doi-access=free }} Some authors have suggested that L. africana evolved from Loxodonta atlantica.{{cite journal |last=Todd |first=Nancy E. |year=2010 |title=New Phylogenetic Analysis of the Family Elephantidae Based on Cranial-Dental Morphology |journal=The Anatomical Record: Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology |volume=293 |issue=1 |pages=74–90 |doi=10.1002/ar.21010 |pmid=19937636 |doi-access=free}}

The fossil record for L. africana is sparse. The earliest possible records of the species are from the Shungura Formation around Omo in Ethiopia, which are dated to the Early Pleistocene, around 2.44-2.27 million years ago.{{Cite book |last=Sanders |first=William J. |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781315118918 |title=Evolution and Fossil Record of African Proboscidea |date=2023-07-07 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-315-11891-8 |edition=1 |location=Boca Raton |pages=257–261 |language=en |doi=10.1201/b20016}} Another possible early record is from the Kanjera site in Kenya, dating to the Middle Pleistocene, around 500,000 years ago.{{Cite journal |last1=Stewart |first1=Mathew |last2=Louys |first2=Julien |last3=Price |first3=Gilbert J. |last4=Drake |first4=Nick A. |last5=Groucutt |first5=Huw S. |last6=Petraglia |first6=Michael D. |date=May 2019 |title=Middle and Late Pleistocene mammal fossils of Arabia and surrounding regions: Implications for biogeography and hominin dispersals |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1040618217309163 |journal=Quaternary International |language=en |volume=515 |pages=12–29 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2017.11.052 |bibcode=2019QuInt.515...12S |s2cid=134460011 |access-date=27 July 2023 |archive-date=6 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231006012203/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1040618217309163 |url-status=live }}{{Cite journal |last1=Manthi |first1=Fredrick Kyalo |last2=Sanders |first2=William J. |last3=Plavcan |first3=J. Michael |last4=Cerling |first4=Thure E. |last5=Brown |first5=Francis H. |date=September 2020 |title=Late Middle Pleistocene Elephants from Natodomeri, Kenya and the Disappearance of Elephas (Proboscidea, Mammalia) in Africa |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10914-019-09474-9 |journal=Journal of Mammalian Evolution |language=en |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=483–495 |doi=10.1007/s10914-019-09474-9 |s2cid=198190671 |issn=1064-7554}} Genetic analysis suggests a major population expansion between 500,000 and 100,000 years ago. Records become more common during the Late Pleistocene, following the extinction of the last African Palaeoloxodon elephant species, Palaeoloxodon jolensis.

The African bush elephant has grey skin with scanty hairs. Its large ears cover the whole shoulder,{{cite book |last1=Jardine |first1=W. |year=1836 |title=The Naturalist's Library |volume=V. Natural History of the Pachydermes, Or, Thick-skinned Quadrupeds |location=Edinburgh, London, Dublin |publisher=W.H. Lizars, Samuel Highley, W. Curry, jun. & Company |pages=124–132 |chapter=The Elephant of Africa |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XyYOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA124}} and can grow as large as {{cvt|2|x|1.5|m}}.{{cite book |last=Estes |first=R. D. |title=The Safari Companion: A Guide to Watching African Mammals Including Hoofed Mammals, Carnivores, and Primates |publisher=Chelsea Green Publishing Company |location=Vermont |year=1999 |edition=Revised and expanded |isbn=1-890132-44-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xqp7poFviNcC |chapter=Elephant Loxodonta africana Family Elephantidae, Order Proboscidea |pages=223–233}}

Its large ears help to reduce body heat; flapping them creates air currents and exposes large blood vessels on the inner sides to increase heat loss during hot weather.{{cite journal |last1=Shoshani |first1=J. |year=1978 |title=General information on elephants with emphasis on tusks |journal=Elephant |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=20–31 |doi=10.22237/elephant/1491234053 |url=https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1016&context=elephant |doi-access=free |access-date=11 June 2019 |archive-date=20 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220000439/https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1016&context=elephant |url-status=live }} The African bush elephant's ears are pointed and triangular shaped. Its occipital plane slopes forward. Its back is shaped markedly concave. Its sturdy tusks are curved out and point forward.{{Cite journal |author1=Grubb, P. |author2=Groves, C. P. |author3=Dudley, J. P. |author4=Shoshani, J. |year=2000 |title=Living African elephants belong to two species: Loxodonta africana (Blumenbach, 1797) and Loxodonta cyclotis (Matschie, 1900) |journal=Elephant |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=1–4 |doi= 10.22237/elephant/1521732169|doi-access=free }} Its long trunk or proboscis ends with two finger-like tips.

File:African-Elephant-Scale-Chart-SVG-Steveoc86.svg

The African bush elephant is the largest and heaviest living land animal. Under optimal conditions where individuals are capable of reaching full growth potential, fully grown mature males are about {{cvt|3.20|m}} tall at the shoulder and weigh {{cvt|6.0|MT|ST}} on average (with 90% of fully grown males under optimal conditions being between {{cvt| 3.04–3.36|m}} and {{cvt|5.2–6.9|MT|ST}}). Mature fully grown females are smaller at about {{cvt|2.60|m}} tall at the shoulder and {{cvt|3.0|MT|ST}} in weight on average under optimal growth conditions (with 90% of fully grown females ranging between {{cvt| 2.47–2.73|m}} and {{cvt|2.6–3.5|MT|ST}} in optimal conditions).{{Cite journal |last=Larramendi |first=A. |year=2016 |title=Shoulder height, body mass and shape of proboscideans |journal=Acta Palaeontologica Polonica |volume=61 |issue=3 |pages=537–574 |doi=10.4202/app.00136.2014 |s2cid=2092950 |url=https://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app61/app001362014.pdf |doi-access=free |access-date=30 August 2016 |archive-date=24 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160824042509/http://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app61/app001362014.pdf |url-status=live }}{{cite journal |last1=Laws |first1=R. M. |last2=Parker |first2=I. S. C. |name-list-style=amp |year=1968 |title=Recent studies on elephant populations in East Africa |journal=Symposia of the Zoological Society of London |volume=21 |pages=319–359 }}{{cite journal |last1=Hanks |first1=J. |year=1972 |title=Growth of the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2028.1972.tb00870.x |journal=East African Wildlife Journal |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=251–272|bibcode=1972AfJEc..10..251H }}{{cite book |last1=Laws |first1=R. M. |last2=Parker |first2=I. S. C. |last3=Johnstone |first3=R. C. B. |year=1975 |title=Elephants and Their Habitats: The Ecology of Elephants in North Bunyoro, Uganda |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford}} The maximum recorded shoulder height of an adult bull is {{cvt|3.96|m|}}, with this individual having an estimated weight of {{cvt|10.4|MT|ST}}. Elephants attain their maximum stature when they complete the fusion of long-bone epiphyses, occurring in males around the age of 40 and females around 25 years of age.

The dental formula of the African bush elephant is {{DentalFormula|upper=1.0.3.3|lower=0.0.3.3|total=26}}. They develop six molars in each jaw quadrant that erupt at different ages and differ in size. The first molars grow to a size of {{cvt|2|cm}} wide by {{cvt|4|cm}} long, are worn by the age of one year and lost by the age of about 2.5 years. The second molars start protruding at the age of about six months, and grow to a size of {{cvt|4|cm}} wide by {{cvt|7|cm}} long and are lost by the age of 6–7 years. The third molars protrude at the age of about one year, grow to a size of {{cvt|5.2|cm}} wide by {{cvt|14|cm}} long, and are lost by the age of 8–10 years. The fourth molars show by the age of 6–7 years, grow to a size of {{cvt|6.8|cm}} wide by {{cvt|17.5|cm}} long and are lost by the age of 22–23 years. The dental alveoli of the fifth molars are visible by the age of 10–11 years. They grow to a size of {{cvt|8.5|cm}} wide by {{cvt|22|cm}} long and are worn by the age of 45–48 years. The dental alveoli of the last molars are visible by the age of 26–28 years. They grow to a size of {{cvt|9.4|cm}} wide by {{cvt|31|cm}} long and are well worn by the age of 65 years.{{cite journal |last=Jachmann |first=H. |year=1988 |title=Estimating age in African elephants: a revision of Laws' molar evaluation technique |journal=African Journal of Ecology |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=51–56 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2028.1988.tb01127.x|bibcode=1988AfJEc..26...51J }}

File:Loxodonta africana - Molar of an adult.JPG

Both sexes have large, curved, maxillary incisors known as tusks that continue growing throughout their lives. In the wild, a large percentage of elephants experience a tusk fracture, although this is more prevalent in captivity. A tusk fracture of any sort usually results in serious infections, as the pulp is exposed to the elements.{{Cite journal |last1=Boy |first1=S. C. |last2=Steenkamp |first2=G. |date=2004 |title=Neural innervation of the tusk pulp of the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) |url=https://bvajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1136/vr.154.12.372 |journal=Veterinary Record |language=en |volume=154 |issue=12 |pages=372–374 |doi=10.1136/vr.154.12.372 |pmid=15074329 |issn=2042-7670}} The tusks erupt when they are 1–3 years old.{{cite journal |last1=Laws |first1=R. M. |year=1966 |title=Age criteria for the African elephant: Loxodonta a. africana |journal=African Journal of Ecology |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=1–37 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2028.1966.tb00878.x}} Tusks grow from deciduous teeth known as tushes that develop in the upper jaw and consist of a crown, root and pulpal cavity, which are completely formed soon after birth. Tushes reach a length of {{cvt|5|cm}}.{{cite journal |last1=Raubenheimer |first1=E. J. |last2=Van Heerden |first2=W. F. P. |last3=Van Niekerk |first3=P. J. |last4=De Vos |first4=V. |last5=Turner |first5=M. J. |name-list-style=amp |year=1995 |title=Morphology of the deciduous tusk (tush) of the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) |journal=Archives of Oral Biology |volume=40 |issue=6 |pages=571–576 |doi=10.1016/0003-9969(95)00008-D |pmid=7677604 |url=https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/28439/Complete.pdf?sequence=10#page=135 |access-date=2 June 2019 |archive-date=23 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523150110/https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/28439/Complete.pdf?sequence=10#page=135 |url-status=live }}

They are composed of dentin and coated with a thin layer of cementum. Their tips bear a conical layer of enamel that is usually worn off when the elephant is five years old.{{cite book |editor1=Shoshani, J. |editor2=Tassy, P. |year=1996 |title=The Proboscidea: Evolution and Palaeoecology of Elephants and Their Relatives |author1=Shoshani, J. |chapter=Skeletal and other basic anatomical features of elephants |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=9–20}}

Tusks of bulls grow faster than tusks of cows. Mean weight of tusks at the age of 60 years is {{cvt|109|kg}} in bulls and {{cvt|17.7|kg}} in cows.

The longest known tusk of an African bush elephant measured {{cvt|3.51|m}} and weighed {{cvt|117|kg}}.{{cite journal |last1=Raubenheimer |first1=E. J. |last2=Bosman |first2=M. C. |last3=Vorster |first3=R. |last4=Noffke |first4=C. E. |name-list-style=amp |year=1998 |title=Histogenesis of the chequered pattern of ivory of the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) |journal=Archives of Oral Biology |volume=43 |issue=12 |pages=969–977 |doi=10.1016/S0003-9969(98)00077-6|pmid=9877328}}

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The African bush elephant occurs in sub-Saharan Africa which includes Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Zambia, Angola, Malawi, Mali, Rwanda, Mozambique and South Africa. It moves between a variety of habitats, including subtropical and temperate forests, dry and seasonally flooded grasslands, woodlands, wetlands, and agricultural land from sea level to mountain slopes. In Mali and Namibia, it also inhabits desert and semi-desert areas.

Populations of African bush elephants are increasing in some areas such as the Kruger National Park, where an annual growth of 4.2% was recorded between 2003 and 2015.{{Cite journal |last1=Ferreira |first1=Sam M. |last2=Greaver |first2=Cathy |last3=Simms |first3=Chenay |date=2017-02-21 |title=Elephant population growth in Kruger National Park, South Africa, under a landscape management approach |url=https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.4102/koedoe.v59i1.1427 |journal=Koedoe: African Protected Area Conservation and Science |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=1–6 |doi=10.4102/koedoe.v59i1.1427}} There are estimated to be at least 17,000 elephants in the park's vicinity, as of 2015–the most of any area in South Africa.{{Cite journal |last1=MacFadyen |first1=Sandra |last2=Hui |first2=Cang |last3=Verburg |first3=Peter H. |last4=Van Teeffelen |first4=Astrid J. A. |date=2019 |title=Spatiotemporal distribution dynamics of elephants in response to density, rainfall, rivers and fire in Kruger National Park, South Africa |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ddi.12907 |journal=Diversity and Distributions |language=en |volume=25 |issue=6 |pages=880–894 |doi=10.1111/ddi.12907 |bibcode=2019DivDi..25..880M |issn=1472-4642 |access-date=4 December 2024 |archive-date=20 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120134353/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ddi.12907 |url-status=live }}{{Cite journal |last1=Ferreira |first1=Sam |last2=Crowhurst |first2=Erin |last3=Greaver |first3=Cathy |last4=Simms |first4=Chenay |date=2024-09-24 |title=Sample-Based Estimates of Elephants in Kruger National Park, South Africa |url=https://bioone.org/journals/african-journal-of-wildlife-research/volume-54/issue-1/056.054.0122/Sample-Based-Estimates-of-Elephants-in-Kruger-National-Park-South/10.3957/056.054.0122.full |journal=African Journal of Wildlife Research |volume=54 |issue=1 |doi=10.3957/056.054.0122 |issn=2410-7220}} The increase in population occurred after the discontinuation of culling in the mid-1990s.Fulton, William C., "[https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-population-growth-and-control-of-African-in-and-Fulton/bbb7840ee0a97cded62feedfc08c0c61b34f8df2 The population growth and control of African elephants in Kruger National Park, South Africa:: Modeling, managing, and ethics concerning a threatened species]" (2012). Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection). 560. This large elephant population is considered a problem to both the environment and its creatures. As such, with the use of natural processes, conservationists aim to control the ever-growing population.{{Cite journal |last1=Robson |first1=A. S. |last2=van Aarde |first2=R. J. |date=2018 |title=Changes in elephant conservation management promote density-dependent habitat selection in the Kruger National Park |url=https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/acv.12393 |journal=Animal Conservation |language=en |volume=21 |issue=4 |pages=302–312 |doi=10.1111/acv.12393 |bibcode=2018AnCon..21..302R |hdl=2263/66370 |issn=1469-1795|hdl-access=free }} In other places in southern Africa, the elephant population continues to increase.{{Cite journal |last1=Van |first1=Aarde R. J. |last2=Jackson |first2=T. P. |last3=Ferreira |first3=S. M. |date=September 2006 |title=Conservation science and elephant management in southern Africa: elephant conservation |url=https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.10520/EJC96610 |journal=South African Journal of Science |volume=102 |issue=9 |pages=385–388 |hdl=10520/EJC96610 |doi= }} Botswana in particular hosts more African bush elephants than any other country, at 130,000.{{Citation |last=Cox |first=Caroline |title=International organisations and the ivory sales ban debate |date=2022-02-01 |work=Protected Areas and Tourism in Southern Africa |pages=175–187 |url=https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003193166-16 |access-date=2024-12-05 |place=London |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9781003193166-16 |isbn=978-1-003-19316-6}} In a 2019 study, populations were found to be steady, though the authors also noted an unusual increase in carcasses, possibly due to a new wave of poaching which was uncommon at the time.{{Cite journal |last1=Schlossberg |first1=Scott |last2=Chase |first2=Michael J. |last3=Sutcliffe |first3=Robert |date=2019 |title=Evidence of a Growing Elephant Poaching Problem in Botswana |journal=Current Biology |volume=29 |issue=13 |pages=2222–2228.e4 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2019.05.061 |pmid=31204160 |bibcode=2019CBio...29E2222S |issn=0960-9822|doi-access=free }}

In East Africa there are roughly 137,000 elephants distributed across six countries in a wide array of habitats, such as grasslands and woodlands. They are most threatened by illegal hunting activities, such as poaching. In one instance, between 2006 and 2013, the population in East Africa fell by 62% due to high poaching pressures. Tanzania (where 80% of the East African population reside) lost the most elephants, while the resident population in Somalia went locally extinct. South Sudan, on the other hand, experienced an increase in elephants. Following successful conservation and governmental actions, Kenya also saw an increase in their elephant numbers.{{Cite journal |first1=Aster Arefaine |last1=Gebrehiwet |first2=Gebre Gidey |last2=Weldeabzgi |date=2024 |title=Status and distribution of African elephant (Loxodonta africana) in Eastern Africa |url=http://www.iaees.org/publications/journals/ces/articles/2024-14(3)/status-and-distribution-of-African-elephant.pdf |journal=Computational Ecology and Software |volume=14 |issue=3 |pages=205–214 |access-date=5 December 2024 |archive-date=28 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528180610/http://www.iaees.org/publications/journals/ces/articles/2024-14(3)/status-and-distribution-of-African-elephant.pdf |url-status=live }} In Ethiopia, the African bush elephant has historically been recorded up to an elevation of {{convert|2500|m|abbr=on}}. By the late 1970s, the population had declined to one herd in the Dawa River valley and one close to the Kenyan border.{{cite journal |last1= Yalden |first1=D. W. |last2=Largen |first2=M. J. |last3=Kock |first3= D. |name-list-style=amp |year=1986 |title=Catalogue of the Mammals of Ethiopia. 6. Perissodactyla, Proboscidea, Hyracoidea, Lagomorpha, Tubulidentata, Sirenia, and Cetacea |journal=Monitore Zoologico Italiano |volume=Supplemento 21 |issue=1 |pages=31–103 |doi=10.1080/03749444.1986.10736707 |doi-access=free}} As of 2015, there are estimated to be 1,900{{ndash}}2,151 elephants in the country, a decrease from 6,000{{ndash}}10,000 in the 1970s. It is estimated that between the 1980s and 2010s, elephants in Ethiopia experienced a decline of around 90%{{ndash}}hence the endangered assessment.

In West and Central Africa, the population of elephants are threatened, in large part due to habitat loss and fragmentation, and rapid growth in human populations. Elephants occur in isolated pockets throughout the region and are for the most part decreasing in number.{{Cite journal |last1=Bouché |first1=Philippe |last2=Douglas-Hamilton |first2=Iain |last3=Wittemyer |first3=George |last4=Nianogo |first4=Aimé J. |last5=Doucet |first5=Jean-Louis |last6=Lejeune |first6=Philippe |last7=Vermeulen |first7=Cédric |date=2011-06-22 |title=Will Elephants Soon Disappear from West African Savannahs? |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=6 |issue=6 |pages=e20619 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0020619 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=3120750 |pmid=21731620 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2011PLoSO...620619B }}

{{multiple image |perrow=1 |image1=Herd of Elephants.jpg |caption1=Elephant family in Amboseli National Park, Kenya |image2=Down the water hole.jpg |caption2=Young bulls in a bachelor group in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe}}

The core of elephant society is the family unit, which mostly comprises several adult cows, their daughters, and their prepubertal sons. Iain Douglas-Hamilton, who observed African bush elephants for 4.5 years in Lake Manyara National Park, coined the term 'kinship group' for two or more family units that have close ties. The family unit is led by a matriarch who at times also leads the kinship group.{{cite thesis |last1=Douglas-Hamilton |first1=I. |year=1972 |title=On the ecology and behaviour of the African elephant: the elephants of Lake Manyara |type=PhD thesis |publisher=University of Oxford |location=Oxford}}{{cite journal |last1=Douglas-Hamilton |first1=I. |year=1973 |title=On the ecology and behaviour of the Lake Manyara elephants |journal=East African Wildlife Journal |volume=11 |issue=3–4 |pages=401–403|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2028.1973.tb00101.x |bibcode=1973AfJEc..11..401D }} Groups cooperate in locating food and water, in self-defense, and in caring for offspring (termed allomothering). Group size varies seasonally and between locations. In Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks, groups are bigger in the rainy season and areas with open vegetation.{{cite journal |last1=Leuthold, W. |year=1976 |title=Group size in elephants of Tsavo National Park and possible factors influencing it |journal=Journal of Animal Ecology |volume=45 |issue=2 |pages=425–439 |doi=10.2307/3883|jstor=3883 |bibcode=1976JAnEc..45..425L }}

Aerial surveys in the late 1960s to early 1970s revealed an average group size of 6.3 individuals in Uganda's Rwenzori National Park and 28.8 individuals in Chambura Game Reserve. In both sites, elephants aggregated during the wet season, whereas groups were smaller in the dry season.{{cite journal |last1=Eltringham, S. K. |year=1977 |title=The numbers and distribution of elephant Loxodonta africana in the Rwenzori National Park and Chambura Game Reserve, Uganda |journal=African Journal of Ecology |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=19–39 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2028.1977.tb00375.x|bibcode=1977AfJEc..15...19E }}

Young bulls gradually separate from the family unit when they are between 10 and 19 years old. They range alone for some time or form all-male groups.{{cite book |year=1983 |title=Primate Social Relationships: An Integrated Approach |editor1=Hinde, R. A. |editor2=Berman, C. M. |publisher=Blackwell |location=Oxford |author1=Moss, C. J. |author2=Poole, J. H. |chapter=Relationships and social structure of African elephants |pages=315–325}} A 2020 study highlighted the importance of old bulls for the navigation and survival of herds and raised concerns over the removal of old bulls as "currently occur[ring] in both legal trophy hunting and illegal poaching".{{cite journal |last1=Allen |first1=C. R. B. |last2=Brent |first2=L. J. N. |last3=Motsentwa |first3=T. |last4=Weiss |first4=M. N. |last5=Croft |first5=D. P. |title=Importance of old bulls: leaders and followers in collective movements of all-male groups in African savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana) |journal=Scientific Reports |date=2020 |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=13996 |doi=10.1038/s41598-020-70682-y |pmid=32883968 |pmc=7471917 |bibcode=2020NatSR..1013996A |doi-access=free }}

The African bush elephant has curved skin with bending cracks, which support thermoregulation by retaining water.{{Cite journal |last1=Martins |first1=A. F. |last2=Bennett |first2=N. C. |last3=Clavel |first3=S. |last4=Groenewald |first4=H. |last5=Hensman |first5=S. |last6=Hoby |first6=S. |last7=Joris |first7=A. |last8=Manger |first8=P. R. |last9=Milinkovitch |first9=M. C. |date=2018 |title=Locally-curved geometry generates bending cracks in the African elephant skin |journal=Nature Communications |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=3865 |doi=10.1038/s41467-018-06257-3 |pmc=6168576 |pmid=30279508 |bibcode=2018NatCo...9.3865M}} These bending cracks contribute to an evaporative cooling process which helps to maintain body temperature via homeothermy regardless of air temperature.{{Cite journal |last1=Mole |first1=M. A. |last2=Rodrigues DÁraujo |first2=S. |last3=van Aarde |first3=R. J. |last4=Mitchell |first4=D. |last5=Fuller |first5=A. |date=2018 |title=Savanna elephants maintain homeothermy under African heat |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-018-1170-5 |journal=Journal of Comparative Physiology B |volume=188 |issue=5 |pages=889–897 |doi=10.1007/s00360-018-1170-5 |pmid=30008137 |s2cid=253886484}}

File:African elephant (Loxodonta africana) reaching up 3.jpg, Botswana]]

The African bush elephant is herbivorous. It is a mixed feeder, consuming both grasses, as well as woody vegetation (browse), with the proportions varying wildly depending on the habitat and time of year, ranging from almost exclusively grazing to near-total browsing.{{Cite journal |last1=Codron |first1=Jacqueline |last2=Codron |first2=Daryl |last3=Lee-Thorp |first3=Julia A. |last4=Sponheimer |first4=Matt |last5=Kirkman |first5=Kevin |last6=Duffy |first6=Kevin J. |last7=Sealy |first7=Judith |date=January 2011 |title=Landscape-scale feeding patterns of African elephant inferred from carbon isotope analysis of feces |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00442-010-1835-6 |journal=Oecologia |language=en |volume=165 |issue=1 |pages=89–99 |doi=10.1007/s00442-010-1835-6 |pmid=21072541 |bibcode=2011Oecol.165...89C |issn=0029-8549}} African bush elephants' consumption of woody plants, particularly their habit of uprooting trees, has the ability to alter the local environment, transforming woodlands into grasslands.{{Cite journal |last1=Valeix |first1=Marion |last2=Fritz |first2=Hervé |last3=Sabatier |first3=Rodolphe |last4=Murindagomo |first4=Felix |last5=Cumming |first5=David |last6=Duncan |first6=Patrick |date=February 2011 |title=Elephant-induced structural changes in the vegetation and habitat selection by large herbivores in an African savanna |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0006320710005021 |journal=Biological Conservation |language=en |volume=144 |issue=2 |pages=902–912 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2010.10.029 |bibcode=2011BCons.144..902V |access-date=6 August 2024 |archive-date=4 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240604021757/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0006320710005021 |url-status=live }} African bush elephants also at times consume fruit and serve as seed dispersers.{{Cite journal |last1=Campos-Arceiz |first1=Ahimsa |last2=Blake |first2=Steve |date=November 2011 |title=Megagardeners of the forest – the role of elephants in seed dispersal |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1146609X11000154 |journal=Acta Oecologica |language=en |volume=37 |issue=6 |pages=542–553 |doi=10.1016/j.actao.2011.01.014 |bibcode=2011AcO....37..542C |access-date=6 August 2024 |archive-date=8 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808171707/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1146609X11000154 |url-status=live }} Adults can consume up to {{convert|150|kg|lb|abbr=on}} of food per day.{{cite book |last=Estes |first=R. D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xqp7poFviNcC |title=The Safari Companion: A Guide to Watching African Mammals Including Hoofed Mammals, Carnivores, and Primates |publisher=Chelsea Green Publishing Company |year=1999 |isbn=1-890132-44-6 |edition=Revised and expanded |location=Vermont |pages=223–233 |chapter=Elephant Loxodonta africana Family Elephantidae, Order Proboscidea}} To supplement their diet with minerals, they congregate at mineral-rich water holes, termite mounds, and mineral licks.{{cite journal |last1=Ruggiero |first1=R. G. |last2=Fay |first2=J. M. |year=1994 |title=Utilization of termitarium soils by elephants and its ecological implications |journal=African Journal of Ecology |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=222–232 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2028.1994.tb00573.x|bibcode=1994AfJEc..32..222R }} Salt licks visited by elephants in the Kalahari contain high concentrations of water-soluble sodium.{{cite journal |author=Weir, J. S. |year=1969 |title=Chemical properties and occurrence on Kalahari sand of salt licks created by elephants |journal=Journal of Zoology |volume=158 |issue=3 |pages=293–310 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.1969.tb02148.x}} Elephants drink {{convert|180–230|L|USgal|-1}} of water daily, and seem to prefer sites where water and soil contain sodium. In Kruger National Park and on the shore of Lake Kariba, elephants were observed to ingest wood ash, which also contains sodium.{{cite journal |author=Weir, J. S. |year=1972 |title=Spatial distribution of Elephants in an African National Park in relation to environmental sodium |journal=Oikos |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=1–13 |doi=10.2307/3543921|jstor=3543921 |bibcode=1972Oikos..23....1W }}

Africa bush elephants use their trunks for tactile communication. When greeting, a lower ranking individual will insert the tip of its trunk into its superior's mouth. Elephants will also stretch out their trunk toward an approaching individual they intend to greet. Mother elephants reassure their young with touches, embraces, and rubbings with the foot while slapping disciplines them. During courtship, a couple will caress and intertwine with their trunks while playing and fighting individuals wrestle with them.{{cite book|author=Estes, R.|title=The behavior guide to African mammals: including hoofed mammals, carnivores, primates|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_0520080858|url-access=registration|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_0520080858/page/263 263–66]|year=1991|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-08085-0}}

Elephant vocals are variations of rumbles, trumpets, squeals, and screams. Rumbles are mainly produced for long-distance communication and cover a broad range of frequencies which are mostly below what a human can hear. Infrasonic rumbles can travel vast distances and are important for attracting mates and scaring off rivals.

Growls are audible rumbles and happen during greetings. When in pain or fear, an elephant makes an open-mouthed growl known as a bellow. A drawn-out growl is known as a moan. Growling can escalate into a roaring when the elephant is issuing a threat. Trumpeting is made by blowing through the trunk and signals excitement, distress, or aggression. Juvenile elephants squeal in distress while screaming is done by adults for intimidation.

File:African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) eye close-up showing the Musth gland opening (16689303126).jpg]]

Bulls in musth experience swelling of the temporal glands and secretion of fluid, the musth fluid, which flows down their cheeks. They begin to dribble urine, initially as discrete drops and later in a regular stream. These manifestations of musth last from a few days to months, depending on the age and condition of the bull. When a bull has been urinating for a long time, the proximal part of the penis and the distal end of the sheath show a greenish coloration, termed the 'green penis syndrome' by Joyce Poole and Cynthia Moss.{{cite journal |last1=Poole |first1=J. H. |last2=Moss |first2=C. J. |year=1981 |title=Musth in the African elephant, Loxodonta africana |journal=Nature |volume=292 |issue=5826 |pages=830–1 |doi=10.1038/292830a0|pmid=7266649 |bibcode=1981Natur.292..830P |s2cid=4337060 }} Males in musth become more aggressive. They guard and mate with females in estrus, who stay closer to bulls in musth than to non-musth bulls.{{cite thesis |last1=Poole |first1=J. H. |year=1982 |title=Musth and male-male competition in the African elephant |type=PhD thesis |publisher=University of Cambridge |location=Cambridge}} Urinary testosterone increases during musth.{{cite journal |last1=Poole |first1=J. H. |last2=Kasman |first2=L. H. |last3=Ramsay |first3=E. C. |last4=Lasley |first4=B. L. |year=1984 |title=Musth and urinary testosterone concentrations in the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) |journal=Reproduction |volume=70 |issue=1 |pages=255–260 |doi=10.1530/jrf.0.0700255|pmid=6694143 |doi-access=free }} Bulls begin to experience musth by the age of 24 years. Periods of musth are short and sporadic in young bulls up to 35 years old, lasting a few days to weeks. Older bulls are in musth for 2–5 months every year. Musth occurs mainly during and following the rainy season when females are in estrus.{{cite journal |last1=Poole |first1=J. H. |year=1987 |title=Rutting behavior in African elephants: the phenomenon of musth |journal=Behaviour |volume=102 |issue=3–4 |pages=283–316 |doi=10.1163/156853986X00171}} Bulls in musth often chase each other and are aggressive towards other bulls in musth. When old and high-ranking bulls in musth threaten and chase young musth bulls, either the latter leave the group or their musth ceases.{{cite journal |last1=Poole |first1=J. H. |year=1989 |title=Announcing intent: the aggressive state of musth in African elephants |journal=Animal Behaviour |volume=37 |issue=37 |pages=140–152 |url=https://www.kotafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Poole1989AggressiveStateofMusth.pdf |doi=10.1016/0003-3472(89)90014-6 |s2cid=53190740 |access-date=1 June 2019 |archive-date=1 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190601090849/https://www.kotafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Poole1989AggressiveStateofMusth.pdf |url-status=dead }}

Young bulls in musth killed about 49 white rhinoceros in Pilanesberg National Park between 1992 and 1997. This unusual behavior was attributed to their young age and inadequate socialisation; they were 17–25-year-old orphans from culled families that grew up without the guidance of dominant bulls. When six adult bulls were introduced into the park, the young bulls did not attack rhinos anymore, indicating older bulls suppress the musth and aggressiveness of younger bulls.{{cite journal |last1=Slotow, R. |last2=van Dyk, G. |last3=Poole |first3=J. |last4=Page |first4=B. |last5=Klocke |first5=A. |year=2000 |title=Older bull elephants control young males |journal=Nature |volume=408 |issue=6811 |pages=425–426|doi=10.1038/35044191 |pmid=11100713 |bibcode=2000Natur.408..425S |s2cid=136330 }}{{cite journal |last1=Slotow, R. |last2=van Dyk, G. |year=2001 |title=Role of delinquent young 'orphan' male elephants in high mortality of white rhinoceros in Pilanesberg National Park, South Africa |journal=Koedoe |issue=44 |pages=85–94 |url=http://koedoe.co.za/index.php/koedoe/article/download/188/172 |access-date=31 May 2019 |archive-date=7 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507192405/https://koedoe.co.za/index.php/koedoe/article/download/188/172 |url-status=live }} Similar incidents were recorded in Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park, where young bulls killed five black and 58 white rhinoceros between 1991 and 2001. After the introduction of ten bulls, each up to 45 years old, the number of rhinos killed by elephants decreased considerably.{{cite journal |last1=Slotow, R. |last2=Balfour, D. |last3=Howison, O. |year=2001 |title=Killing of black and white rhinoceroses by African elephants in Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Park, South Africa |journal=Pachyderm |volume=31 |issue=31 |pages=14–20 |doi=10.69649/pachyderm.v31i1.1058 |url=http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/sgs/afesg/pachy/pdfs/pachy31.pdf |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20071025140816/http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/sgs/afesg/pachy/pdfs/pachy31.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2007-10-25 }}

{{multiple image |perrow=1 |image1=Elephant (Loxodonta africana) mating ritual composite.jpg |caption1=Mating ritual in Addo Elephant Park |image2=African bush elephants (Loxodonta africana) female with six-week-old baby.jpg |caption2=Cow with six-week-old calf in Zimbabwe |image3=African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana) baby 6 weeks.jpg|caption3=Calf of six weeks in Zimbabwe}}

Spermatogenesis starts when bulls are about 15 years old.{{cite journal |last1=Hanks |first1=J. |year=1973 |title=Reproduction in the male African elephant in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia |journal=South African Journal of Wildlife Research |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=31–39 |url=https://journals.co.za/content/wild/3/2/AJA03794369_2812?crawler=true&mimetype=application/pdf}} However, males have not begun sexual cycles, not experiencing their first musth period until they are 25 or 30 years of age.Bokhout, B., & Nabuurs, M. (2005). Vasectomy of older bulls to manage elephant overpopulation in Africa: a proposal. Pachyderm, 39, 97-103. Cows ovulate for the first time at the age of 11 years.{{cite journal |last1=Williamson |first1=B. R. |year=1976 |title=Reproduction in female African elephant in the Wankie National Park, Rhodesia |journal=South African Journal of Wildlife Research |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=89–93 |url=https://journals.co.za/content/wild/6/2/AJA03794369_3213?crawler=true&mimetype=application/pdf}} They are in estrus for 2–6 days.{{cite journal |last1=Moss |first1=C. J. |year=1983 |title=Oestrous behaviour and female choice in the African elephant |journal=Behaviour |volume=86 |issue=3/4 |pages=167–196 |jstor=4534283|doi=10.1163/156853983X00354 }}

In captivity, cows have an oestrous cycle lasting 14–15 weeks. Foetal gonads enlarge during the second half of pregnancy.{{cite journal|last1=Allen|first1=W. |title=Ovulation, Pregnancy, Placentation and Husbandry in the African Elephant (Loxodonta africana) |journal=Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences |date=2006 |volume=361|issue=1469|pages=821–834 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2006.1831 |pmid=16627297 |pmc=1609400}}

African bush elephants mate during the rainy season. Bulls in musth cover long distances in search of cows and associate with large family units. They listen for the cows' loud, very low frequency calls and attract cows by calling and by leaving trails of strong-smelling urine. Cows search for bulls in musth, listen for their calls, and follow their urine trails.{{cite book |year=1989 |title=The Biology of Large African Mammals in Their Environment |series=Symposia of the Zoological Society of London |volume=61 |editor1=Jewell, P. A. |editor2=Maloiy, G. M. O. |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=London |last1=Poole |first1=J. H. |last2=Moss |first2=C. J. |chapter=Elephant mate searching: group dynamics and vocal and olfactory communication |pages=111–125}}

Bulls in musth are more successful at obtaining mating opportunities than those who are not. A cow may move away from bulls that attempt to test her estrous condition. If pursued by several bulls, she will run away. Once she chooses a mating partner, she will stay away from other bulls, which are threatened and chased away by the favoured bull. Competition between bulls sometimes overrides the cow's choice of mating partner. After the mating period, females will undergo a gestation of 22 months. The interval between births was estimated at 3.9 to 4.7 years in Hwange National Park. Where hunting pressure on adult elephants was high in the 1970s, cows gave birth once in 2.9 to 3.8 years.{{cite journal |last1=Kerr |first1=M. A. |year=1978 |title=Reproduction of elephant in the Mana Pools National Park, Rhodesia |journal=Arnoldia (Rhodesia) |volume=8 |issue=29 |pages=1–11}} Cows in Amboseli National Park gave birth once in 5 years on average.

The birth of a calf was observed in Tsavo East National Park in October 1990. A group of 80 elephants including eight bulls had gathered in the morning in a {{convert|150|m|abbr=on}} radius around the birth site. A small group of calves and cows stood near the pregnant cow, rumbling and flapping their ears. One cow seemed to assist her. While she was in labour, fluid streamed from her temporal and ear canals. She remained standing while giving birth. The newborn calf struggled to its feet within 30 minutes and walked 20 minutes later. The mother expelled the placenta about 100 minutes after birth and covered it with soil immediately.{{cite journal |last1=McKnight |first1=B. L. |year=1992 |title=Birth of an African elephant in Tsavo East National Park, Kenya |journal=African Journal of Ecology |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=87–89 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2028.1992.tb00481.x|bibcode=1992AfJEc..30...87M }}

Captive-born calves weigh between {{convert|100|and|120|kg|abbr=on}} at birth and gain about {{convert|0.5|kg|abbr=on}} weight per day.{{cite journal |last1=Lang |first1=E. M. |year=1967 |title=The birth of an African elephant Loxodonta africana at Basle Zoo |journal=International Zoo Yearbook |volume=7 |issue=1|pages=154–157 |doi=10.1111/j.1748-1090.1967.tb00359.x}}

Cows lactate for about 4.8 years.{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=N. S. |last2=Buss |first2=I. O. |year=1973 |title=Reproductive ecology of the female African elephant |journal=The Journal of Wildlife Management |volume=37 |issue=4 |pages=524–534 |doi=10.2307/3800318 |jstor=3800318}}

Calves exclusively suckle their mother's milk during the first three months. Thereafter, they start feeding independently and slowly increase the time spent feeding until they are two years old. During the first three years, male calves spend more time suckling and grow faster than female calves. After this period, cows reject male calves more frequently from nursing than female calves.{{cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=P. C. |last2= Moss |first2=C. J. |year=1986 |title=Early maternal investment in male and female African elephant calves |journal=Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology |volume=18 |issue=5 |pages=353–361 |doi=10.1007/BF00299666 |bibcode=1986BEcoS..18..353L |s2cid=10901693 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225904541}}

The maximum lifespan of the African bush elephant is between 70 and 75 years.{{cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=P. C. |last2=Sayialel |first2=S. |last3=Lindsay |first3=W. K. |last4=Moss |first4=C. J. |year=2012 |title=African elephant age determination from teeth: validation from known individuals |journal=African Journal of Ecology |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=9–20 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2028.2011.01286.x|bibcode=2012AfJEc..50....9L }} Its generation length is 25 years.{{cite journal |title=Generation length for mammals |author=Pacifici, M. |author2=Santini, L. |author3=Di Marco, M. |author4=Baisero, D. |author5=Francucci, L. |author6=Grottolo Marasini, G. |author7=Visconti, P. |author8=Rondinini, C. |journal=Nature Conservation |volume=5 |year=2013 |issue=5 |pages=87–94 |doi=10.3897/natureconservation.5.5734|doi-access=free }}

Adult elephants are considered invulnerable to predation.{{cite journal |author1=Sinclair, A. R. E. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Mduma, S. |year=2003 |author3=Brashares, J. S. |title=Patterns of predation in a diverse predator-prey system |journal=Nature |volume=425 |issue=6955 |pages=288–290 |doi=10.1038/nature01934 |pmid=13679915 |bibcode=2003Natur.425..288S |s2cid=29501319 |url=}} Calves, usually under two years, are sometimes preyed on by lions and spotted hyenas.{{cite journal |author1=Laursen, L. |author2=Bekoff, M. |name-list-style=amp |year=1978|title=Loxodonta africana |journal=Mammalian Species |issue=92 |pages=1–8 |url=http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-092-01-0001.pdf |jstor=3503889 |doi=10.2307/3503889 |s2cid=253949585 |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 April 2013 |df=dmy-all|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130430140501/http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-092-01-0001.pdf}} Adult elephants often chase off predators, especially lions, by mobbing behavior.{{cite journal |author1=McComb, K. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Shannon, G. |author3=Durant, S. M. |author4=Sayialel, K. |author5=Slotow, R. |author6=Poole, J. |author7=Moss, C. |year=2011 |title=Leadership in elephants: the adaptive value of age |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences |volume=278 |issue=1722 |pages=3270–3276 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2011.0168 |pmid=21411454 |pmc=3169024 |doi-access=free}} Juveniles are usually well defended by protective adults though serious drought makes them vulnerable to lion predation.{{cite journal |last1=Loveridge |first1=Andrew J. |display-authors=et al |title=Influence of drought on predation of elephant (Loxodonta africana) calves by lions (Panthera leo) in an African wooded savannah |journal=Journal of Zoology |volume=270 |issue=3 |year=2006 |pages=523–530 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00181.x}}

In Botswana's Chobe National Park, lions attacked and fed on juvenile and subadult elephants during the drought when smaller prey species were scarce. Between 1993 and 1996, lions successfully attacked 74 elephants; 26 were older than nine, and one was a bull of over 15 years. Most were killed at night, and hunts occurred more often during waning moon nights than during bright moon nights.{{cite journal |last1=Joubert |first1=D. |year=2006 |title=Hunting behaviour of lions (Panthera leo) on elephants (Loxodonta africana) in the Chobe National Park, Botswana |journal= African Journal of Ecology |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=279–281 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2028.2006.00626.x|bibcode=2006AfJEc..44..279J }} In the same park, lions killed eight elephants in October 2005 that were aged between 1 and 11 years, two of them older than 8 years. Successful hunts took place after dark when prides exceeded 27 lions and herds were smaller than 5 elephants.{{cite journal |last1=Power |first1=R. J. |last2=Compion |first2=R. X. S. |title=Lion predation on elephants in the Savuti, Chobe National Park, Botswana |journal=African Zoology |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=36–44 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232693088 |doi=10.3377/004.044.0104 |year=2009 |s2cid=86371484 |access-date=19 April 2018 |archive-date=31 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180831035431/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232693088 |url-status=live }}

Observations at Etosha National Park indicate that African bush elephants die due to anthrax foremost in November at the end of the dry season.{{cite journal |last1=Lindeque |first1=P. M. |last2=Turnbull |first2=P. C. |name-list-style=amp |title=Ecology and epidemiology of anthrax in the Etosha National Park, Namibia |journal=The Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research |date=1994 |volume=61 |issue=1 |pages=71–83 |pmid=7898901 }} Anthrax spores spread through the intestinal tracts of vultures, jackals and hyaenas that feed on the carcasses. Anthrax killed over 100 elephants in Botswana in 2019.{{cite news |title=Botswana: Lab tests to solve mystery of hundreds of dead elephants |publisher=BBC |date=2020 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53273361 |access-date=3 July 2020 |archive-date=3 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200703164622/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53273361 |url-status=live }} It is thought that wild bush elephants can contract fatal tuberculosis from humans.{{cite journal |last1=Miller |first1=M.A. |last2=Buss |first2=P. |last3=Roos |first3=E.O. |last4=Hausler |first4=G. |last5=Dippenaar |first5=A. |last6=Mitchell |first6=E. |last7=van Schalkwyk |first7=L. |last8=Robbe-Austerman |first8=S. |last9=Waters |first9=W.R. |last10=Sikar-Gang |first10=A. |last11=Lyashchenko |first11=K.P. |last12=Parsons |first12=S.D.C. |last13=Warren |first13=R. |last14=van Helden |first14=P. |name-list-style=amp |title=Fatal Tuberculosis in a Free-Ranging African Elephant and One Health Implications of Human Pathogens in Wildlife |journal=Frontiers in Veterinary Science |date=2019 |volume=6 |pages=18 |doi=10.3389/fvets.2019.00018 |pmid=30788347 |pmc=6373532 |doi-access=free }} Infection of the vital organs by Citrobacter freundii bacteria caused the death of an otherwise healthy bush elephant after capture and translocation.

From April to June 2020, over 400 bush elephants died in Botswana's Okavango Delta region after drinking from desiccating waterholes that were infested with cyanobacteria.{{cite news |title=Mysterious mass elephant die-off in Botswana was caused by cyanobacteria poisoning |url=https://www.sciencealert.com/botswanan-mass-elephant-die-off-attributed-to-bacteria-after-months-of-mystery |access-date=24 September 2020 |agency=AFP |publisher=sciencealert.com |date=22 September 2020 |archive-date=23 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923031911/https://www.sciencealert.com/botswanan-mass-elephant-die-off-attributed-to-bacteria-after-months-of-mystery |url-status=live }} Neurotoxins produced by the cyanobacteria caused calves and adult elephants to wander around confused, emaciated and in distress. The elephants collapsed when the toxin impaired their motor functions and their legs became paralysed. Poaching, intentional poisoning, and anthrax were excluded as potential causes.{{cite news |last1=Brown |first1=W. |title=Nerve agent fear as hundreds of elephants perish mysteriously in Botswana |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=2020 |url=https://news.yahoo.com/hundreds-elephants-die-mysteriously-botswana-160803566.html |access-date=3 July 2020 |archive-date=2 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200702233231/https://news.yahoo.com/hundreds-elephants-die-mysteriously-botswana-160803566.html |url-status=live }}

Elephants may also be host for a variety of parasites and bacteria such as Pasteurella,{{Cite journal |last1=Foggin |first1=Chris M. |last2=Rosen |first2=Laura E. |last3=Henton |first3=Marijke M. |last4=Buys |first4=Angela |last5=Floyd |first5=Toby |last6=Turner |first6=Andrew D. |last7=Tarbin |first7=Jonathan |last8=Lloyd |first8=Antony S. |last9=Chaitezvi |first9=Columbas |last10=Ellis |first10=Richard J. |last11=Roberts |first11=Helen C. |last12=Dastjerdi |first12=Akbar |last13=Nunez |first13=Alejandro |last14=van Vliet |first14=Arnoud H. M. |last15=Steinbach |first15=Falko |date=2023-10-25 |title=Pasteurella sp. associated with fatal septicaemia in six African elephants |journal=Nature Communications |language=en |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=6398 |doi=10.1038/s41467-023-41987-z |pmid=37880229 |issn=2041-1723|pmc=10600241 |bibcode=2023NatCo..14.6398F }} Salmonella, Clostridium,{{Cite journal |last1=Scharling |first1=Frederik Stig |last2=Bertelsen |first2=Mads Frost |last3=Sós |first3=Endre |last4=Bojesen |first4=Anders Miki |date=2021-01-12 |title=Prevalence of Salmonella species, Clostridium perfringens, and Clostridium difficile in the feces of healthy elephants (Loxodonta species and Elephas maximus) in Europe |url=https://bioone.org/journals/journal-of-zoo-and-wildlife-medicine/volume-51/issue-4/2020-0020/PREVALENCE-OF-SALMONELLA-SPECIES-CLOSTRIDIUM-PERFRINGENS-AND-CLOSTRIDIUM-DIFFICILE-IN/10.1638/2020-0020.full |journal=Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine |volume=51 |issue=4 |pages=752–760 |doi=10.1638/2020-0020 |pmid=33480555 |issn=1042-7260}} coccidian, nematode, and trematode.{{Cite journal |last1=Baines |first1=Lydia |last2=Morgan |first2=Eric R. |last3=Ofthile |first3=Mphoeng |last4=Evans |first4=Kate |date=2015-04-01 |title=Occurrence and seasonality of internal parasite infection in elephants, Loxodonta africana, in the Okavango Delta, Botswana |journal=International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife |series=Including Articles from ‘International Congress on Parasites of Wildlife’, pp. 49 - 158 |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=43–48 |doi=10.1016/j.ijppaw.2015.01.004 |pmid=25830107 |issn=2213-2244|pmc=4356875 |bibcode=2015IJPPW...4...43B }} The elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV) is a member of the Proboscivirus genus, a novel clade most closely related to the mammalian betaherpesviruses.{{cite journal|year=2011|title=Detection and evaluation of novel herpesviruses in routine and pathological samples from Asian and African elephants: Identification of two new probosciviruses (EEHV5 and EEHV6) and two new gammaherpesviruses (EGHV3B and EGHV5)|journal=Veterinary Microbiology|volume=147|issue=1–2|pages=28–41|author1=Latimer E |author2=Zong JC |author3=Heaggans SY |author4=Richman LK |author5=Hayward GS |pmc=2976818|pmid=20579821|doi=10.1016/j.vetmic.2010.05.042}} In benign infections found in some wild and captive African elephants, these viruses can affect either the skin or the pulmonary system.{{cite web |url=http://www.elephantcare.org/herpes.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060223062153/http://www.elephantcare.org/herpes.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2006-02-23 |title=Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus (EEHV) |last=Mikota |first=Susan |year=2007 |work=Elephant Care International Fact Sheets |publisher=Elephant Care International |access-date=2009-05-07 }}

{{Main|Elephant cognition}}

Both African and Asian elephants have a very large and highly complex neocortex, a trait also shared by humans, apes and certain dolphin species.{{cite journal| last = Hart| first = B.L. |author2=L.A. Hart |author3=M. McCoy |author4=C.R. Sarath| title = Cognitive behaviour in Asian elephants: use and modification of branches for fly switching| journal = Animal Behaviour| volume = 62| issue = 5| pages = 839–847| publisher = Academic Press|date=November 2001| doi = 10.1006/anbe.2001.1815 | s2cid = 53184282 }} Elephants manifest a wide variety of behaviors, including those associated with grief, learning, mimicry, playing, altruism, tool use, compassion, cooperation, self-awareness, memory, and communication.{{cite journal| title = Elephants know when they need a helping trunk in a cooperative task| doi = 10.1073/pnas.1101765108 | pmid = 21383191 | journal = PNAS | volume=108 | issue = 12 | year=2011 | pages=5116–5121 | last1 = Plotnik | first1 = J. M. | last2 = Lair | first2 = R. | last3 = Suphachoksahakun | first3 = W. | last4 = de Waal | first4 = F. B. M.| pmc = 3064331 | doi-access = free }}BBC: Elephants know how to co-operate http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9417000/9417308.stm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131010013802/http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9417000/9417308.stm |date=2013-10-10 }}{{cite magazine| last = Parsell| first = D.L.| title = In Africa, Decoding the "Language" of Elephants| magazine = National Geographic News| date = 2003-02-21| url = http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/02/0221_030221_elephantvocal1.html| access-date = 2007-10-30| archive-date = 2007-10-12| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071012170607/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/02/0221_030221_elephantvocal1.html| url-status = dead}} In a 2013 study, it was suggested that elephants may understand pointing, the ability to nonverbally communicate an object by extending a finger, or equivalent.{{cite news |last=Zimmer |first=Carl |title=Elephants Get the Point of Pointing, Study Shows |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/10/science/elephants-get-the-point-of-pointing-study-shows.html |date=10 October 2013 |work=The New York Times |access-date=10 October 2013 |archive-date=10 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131010190436/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/10/science/elephants-get-the-point-of-pointing-study-shows.html |url-status=live }} The intelligence of elephants is described as being on a par with that of cetaceans,{{cite web| title = Elephants Outwit Humans During Intelligence Test| author = Jennifer Viegas| work = Discovery News | year = 2011 | url = http://news.discovery.com/animals/elephants-intelligence-test-110307.html| access-date = 2011-03-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110412062433/http://news.discovery.com/animals/elephants-intelligence-test-110307.html |archive-date=12 April 2011}} and various primates.

The African bush elephant is threatened primarily by habitat loss and fragmentation following conversion of natural habitat for livestock farming, plantations of non-timber crops, and building of urban and industrial areas. As a result, human-elephant conflict has increased.

File:Roosevelt safari elephant.jpg]]

Poachers target foremost elephant bulls for their tusks, which leads to a skewed sex ratio and affects the survival chances of a population. Access of poachers to unregulated black markets is facilitated by corruption and periods of civil war in some elephant range countries.{{cite journal |last1=Lemieux |first1=A. M. |last2=Clarke |first2=R. V. |year=2009 |title=The international ban on ivory sales and its effects on elephant poaching in Africa |journal=The British Journal of Criminology |volume=49 |issue=4 |pages=451–471 |doi=10.1093/bjc/azp030|doi-access=free}} During the 20th century, the African bush elephant population was decimated.{{cite book |author=Ceballos, G. |year=2015 |title=The Annihilation of Nature: Human Extinction of Birds and Mammals |location=Baltimore, Maryland |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=978-1421417189 |name-list-style=amp |author2=Ehrlich, A. H. |author3=Ehrlich, P. R. |url= |chapter= |chapter-url=}} Poaching of the elephant has dated back to the years 1970 and 1980, which were considered the largest killings in history. The species is placed in harm's way due to the limited conservation areas provided in Africa. In most cases, the killings of the African bush elephant have occurred near the outskirts of the protected areas.

Between 2003 and 2015, the illegal killing of 14,606 African bush elephants was reported by rangers across 29 range countries. Chad is a major transit country for smuggling of ivory in West Africa. This trend was curtailed by raising penalties for poaching and improving law enforcement.{{cite book |last1=Thouless |first1=C. R. |title=African Elephant Status Report 2016 : an update from the African Elephant Database |last2=Dublin |first2=H. T. |last3=Blanc |first3=J. J. |last4=Skinner |first4=D. P. |last5=Daniel |first5=T. E. |last6=Taylor |first6=R. D. |last7=Maisels |first7=F. |last8=Frederick |first8=H. L. |last9=Bouché |first9=P. |publisher=IUCN SSC African Elephant Specialist Group |year=2016 |isbn=978-2-8317-1813-2 |series=Occasional Paper of the IUCN Species Survival Commission No. 60 |location=Gland }} Before this in June 2002, a container packed with more than {{cvt|6.5|t}} ivory was confiscated in Singapore. It contained 42,120 hanko stamps and 532 tusks of African bush elephants that originated in Southern Africa, centered in Zambia and neighboring countries. Between 2005 and 2006, a total of {{cvt|23.461|t}} ivory plus 91 unweighed tusks of African bush elephants were confiscated in 12 major consignments being shipped to Asia.{{cite journal |last1=Wasser |first1=S. K. |last2=Mailand |first2=C. |last3=Booth |first3=R. |last4=Mutayoba |first4=B. |last5=Kisamo |first5=E. |last6=Clark |first6=B. |last7=Stephens |first7=M. |date=2007 |title=Using DNA to track the origin of the largest ivory seizure since the 1989 trade ban |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=104 |issue=10 |pages=4228–4233 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0609714104|pmc=1805457 |pmid=17360505 |bibcode=2007PNAS..104.4228W |doi-access=free}}

When the international ivory trade reopened in 2006, the demand and price for ivory increased in Asia. The African bush elephant population in Chad's Zakouma National Park numbered 3,900 individuals in 2005. Within five years, more than 3,200 elephants were killed. The park did not have sufficient guards to combat poaching, and their weapons were outdated. Well-organized networks facilitated smuggling the ivory through Sudan.{{cite journal |last1=Poilecot |first1=P. |year=2010 |title= Le braconnage et la population d'éléphants au Parc National de Zakouma (Tchad) |journal=Bois et Forêts des Tropiques |volume=303 |issue=303 |pages=93–102 |doi=10.19182/bft2010.303.a20454 |doi-access=free}}

Poaching also increased in Kenya in those years.{{cite journal |last1=Douglas-Hamilton |first1=I. |year=2009 |title=The current elephant poaching trend |journal=Pachyderm |volume=45 |issue=45 |pages=154–157 |doi=10.69649/pachyderm.v45i.188 |url=http://savetheelephants.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/2009ElephantPoachingTrendSWARA.pdf |access-date=3 June 2019 |archive-date=11 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190711195907/http://savetheelephants.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/2009ElephantPoachingTrendSWARA.pdf |url-status=live }}

In Samburu National Reserve, 41 bulls were illegally killed between 2008 and 2012, equivalent to 31% of the reserve's elephant population.{{cite journal |last1=Wittemyer |first1=G. |last2=Daballen |first2=D. |last3=Douglas-Hamilton |first3=I. |year=2013 |title=Comparative Demography of an At-Risk African Elephant Population |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=8 |issue=1 |page=e53726 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0053726|pmid=23341984 |pmc=3547063 |bibcode=2013PLoSO...853726W |doi-access=free }} These killings were linked to confiscations of ivory and increased prices for ivory on the local black market.{{cite journal |last1=Wittemyer |first1=G. |last2=Northrup |first2=J. M. |last3=Blanc |first3=J. |last4=Douglas-Hamilton |first4=I. |last5=Omondi |first5=P. |last6=Burnham |first6=K. P. |year=2014 |title=Illegal killing for ivory drives global decline in African elephants |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=111 |issue=36 |pages=13117–13121 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1403984111 |pmid=25136107 |pmc=4246956 |bibcode=2014PNAS..11113117W |doi-access=free}}

About 10,370 tusks were confiscated in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Kenya and Uganda between 2007 and 2013. Genetic analysis of tusk samples showed that they originated from African bush elephants killed in Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, Kenya, and Uganda. Most of the ivory was smuggled through East African countries.{{cite journal |first1=S. K. |last1=Wasser |last2=Brown |first2=L. |last3=Mailand |first3=C. |last4=Mondol |first4=S. |date=2015 |title=Genetic assignment of large seizures of elephant ivory reveals Africa's major poaching hotspots |journal=Science |volume=349 |issue=6243 |pages=84–87 |doi=10.1126/science.aaa2457 |last5=Clark |first5=W. |last6=Laurie |first6=C. |last7=Weir |first7=B. S.|pmc=5535781 |pmid=26089357 |bibcode=2015Sci...349...84W}}

In addition to elephants being poached, their carcasses may be poisoned by the poachers to avoid detection by vultures, which help rangers detect poaching activity by circling dead animals. This poses a threat to those vultures or birds that scavenge the carcasses. On 20 June 2019, the carcasses of two tawny eagles and 537 endangered Old World vultures including 468 white-backed vultures, 17 white-headed vultures, 28 hooded vultures, 14 lappet-faced vultures and 10 Cape vultures found dead in northern Botswana were suspected to have died after eating the poisoned carcasses of three elephants.{{cite news |publisher=NDTV |work=Agence France-Press |title=Over 500 Rare Vultures Die After Eating Poisoned Elephants in Botswana |url=https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/over-500-rare-vultures-die-after-eating-poisoned-elephants-in-botswana-2056740 |date=2019 |access-date=2019-06-28 |archive-date=8 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108001848/https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/over-500-rare-vultures-die-after-eating-poisoned-elephants-in-botswana-2056740 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Hurworth |first=E. |title=More than 500 endangered vultures die after eating poisoned elephant carcasses |publisher=CNN |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/21/africa/botswana-vultures-endangered-elephants-intl-hnk/index.html |date=2019 |access-date=2019-06-28 |archive-date=3 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803200851/https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/21/africa/botswana-vultures-endangered-elephants-intl-hnk/index.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Solly |first=M. |title=Poachers' Poison Kills 530 Endangered Vultures in Botswana |publisher=Smithsonian |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/poachers-poison-kills-530-endangered-vultures-botswana-180972477/ |date=2019 |access-date=2019-06-28 |archive-date=2 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502060843/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/poachers-poison-kills-530-endangered-vultures-botswana-180972477/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Ngounou |first=B. |title=Botswana: Over 500 vultures found dead after massive poisoning |publisher=Afrik21 |url=https://www.afrik21.africa/en/botswana-over-500-vultures-found-dead-after-massive-poisoning/ |date=2019 |access-date=2019-06-28 |archive-date=26 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126174325/https://www.afrik21.africa/en/botswana-over-500-vultures-found-dead-after-massive-poisoning/ |url-status=live }}

Intensive poaching leads to strong selection on tusk attributes; African elephants in areas with heavy poaching often have smaller tusks and a higher frequency of congenitally tuskless females, whereas congenital tusklessness is rarely if ever observed in males.{{Cite journal |last1=Jachmann |first1=H. |last2=Berry |first2=P. S. M. |last3=Imae |first3=H. |name-list-style=amp |year=1995 |title=Tusklessness in African elephants: a future trend |journal=African Journal of Ecology |volume=33 |issue=3 |pages=230–235 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2028.1995.tb00800.x|bibcode=1995AfJEc..33..230J }} A study in Mozambique's Gorongosa National Park revealed that poaching during the Mozambican Civil War led to the increasing birth of tuskless females when the population recovered.{{Cite journal |last1=Campbell-Staton |first1=S. C. |last2=Arnold |first2=B. J. |last3=Gonçalves |first3=D. |last4=Granli |first4=P. |last5=Poole |first5=J. |last6=Long |first6=R. A. |last7=Pringle |first7=R. M. |date=2021 |title=Ivory poaching and the rapid evolution of tusklessness in African elephants |journal=Science |volume=374 |issue=6566 |pages=483–487 |doi=10.1126/science.abe7389 |pmid=34672738 |bibcode=2021Sci...374..483C |s2cid=239457948 |name-list-style=amp}}

Vast areas in Sub-Saharan Africa were transformed for agricultural use and the building of infrastructure. This disturbance leaves the elephants without a stable habitat and limits their ability to roam freely. Large corporations associated with commercial logging and mining have fragmented the land, giving poachers easy access to the African bush elephant.{{cite news|url=http://www.marylandzoo.org/animals-conservation/elephant-program/facts-about-african-elephants/|title=Facts About African Elephants – The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore|work=The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore|access-date=2017-11-13|archive-date=4 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180504131007/http://www.marylandzoo.org/animals-conservation/elephant-program/facts-about-african-elephants/|url-status=dead}} As human development grows, the human population faces the trouble of contact with the elephants more frequently, due to the species need for food and water. Farmers residing in nearby areas come into conflict with the African bush elephants rummaging through their crops. In many cases, they kill the elephants as soon as they disturb a village or forage upon its crops. Deaths caused by browsing on rubber vine, an invasive plant, have also been reported.{{cite journal |last1=Ortega |first1=Joaquín |last2=Corpa |first2=Juan M. |last3=Orden |first3=José A. |last4=Blanco |first4=Jorge |last5=Carbonell |first5=María D. |last6=Gerique |first6=Amalia C. |last7=Latimer |first7=Erin |last8=Hayward |first8=Gary S. |last9=Roemmelt |first9=Andreas |last10=Kraemer |first10=Thomas |last11=Romey |first11=Aurore |last12=Kassimi |first12=Labib B. |last13=Casares |first13=Miguel |title=Acute death associated with Citrobacter freundii infection in an African elephant (Loxodonta africana) |journal=Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation |date=15 July 2015 |volume=27 |issue=5 |pages=632–636 |doi=10.1177/1040638715596034 |pmid=26179092 |doi-access=free }}

File:Berlin Tierpark Friedrichsfelde 12-2015 img13 African elephant.jpg]]

Both African elephant species have been listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora since 1989. In 1997, populations of Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe were placed on CITES Appendix II, as were populations of South Africa in 2000. Community-based conservation programmes have been initiated in several range countries, which contributed to reducing human-elephant conflict and increasing local people's tolerance towards elephants. Researchers discovered that playing back the recorded sounds of African bees is an effective method to drive elephants away from settlements.{{cite journal |first1=L. E. |last1=King |first2=I. |last2=Douglas-Hamilton |first3=F. |last3=Vollrath |year=2007 |title=African elephants run from the sound of disturbed bees |journal=Current Biology |volume=17 |issue=19 |pages=R832–R833 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2007.07.038 |pmid=17925207|s2cid=30014793 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2007CBio...17.R832K }}

In 1986, the African Elephant Database was initiated to collate and update information on the distribution and status of elephant populations in Africa. The database includes results from aerial surveys, dung counts, interviews with local people, and data on poaching.

In 2008, the IUCN Red List assessed the African elephant (then considered as a single species) as vulnerable. Since 2021, the African bush elephant has individually been assessed Endangered, after the global population was found to have decreased by more than 50% over 3 generations.{{Cite web|last=Nuwer|first=Rachel|author-link=Rachel Nuwer|date=2021-03-25|title=Both African elephant species are now endangered, one critically|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/both-african-elephant-species-are-now-endangered-one-critically|url-status=dead|access-date=2021-03-25|website=National Geographic|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210325130911/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/both-african-elephant-species-are-now-endangered-one-critically |archive-date=25 March 2021 }} More than 50% of its range is located outside protected areas. In 2016, the global population was estimated at 415,428 ± 20,111 individuals distributed in a total area of {{convert|20731202|sqkm|abbr=on}}, of which 30% is protected. Approximately 42% of the total population lives in nine southern African countries comprising 293,447 ± 16,682 individuals; Africa's largest population lives in Botswana with 131,626 ± 12,508 individuals.

The social behavior of elephants in captivity mimics that of those in the wild. Cows are kept with other cows, in groups, while bulls tend to be separated from their mothers at a young age and are kept apart. According to Schulte, in the 1990s, in North America, a few facilities allowed bull interaction. Elsewhere, bulls were only allowed to smell each other. Bulls and cows were allowed to interact for specific purposes such as breeding. In that event, cows were more often moved to the bull than the bull to the cow. Cows are more often kept in captivity because they are easier and less expensive to house.{{cite journal |last=Schulte |first=B. A. |title=Social structure and helping behavior in captive elephants |journal=Zoo Biology |date=2000 |volume=19 |issue=5 |pages=447–459 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230242723 |doi=10.1002/1098-2361(2000)19:5<447::aid-zoo12>3.0.co;2-#}}

In Africa, elephants have found a prominent role in human culture since ancient times and were most priced for their ivory tusks, which were considered valuable commercial goods.{{Cite book |last1=Scholes |first1=Robert (Bob) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gjZjDwAAQBAJ&dq=Elephant+management&pg=PT5 |title=Elephant management: A Scientific Assessment for South Africa |last2=Mennell |first2=Kathleen G. |date=2008-03-01 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-1-77614-227-9 |language=en}} In Kenya, the Maasai people have been known to use elephants for their tusks and often regard them as akin to humans. They feature extensively in Maasai culture, going by the local name of Arkanjowe (a being that is large and/or powerful). According to a Maasai legend, the elephant came to be when a woman, who was on her way to her partner's place for marriage, turned her back before reaching the destination. This event caused the woman to shape-shift into an elephant.{{Cite journal |last1=Kioko |first1=John |last2=Kiffner |first2=C. |last3=Ndibalema |first3=V. |last4=Hartnett |first4=Elyse |last5=Seefeld |first5=Carey |date=2015 |title=Maasai people and elephants: values and perceptions |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285612577 |journal=Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=13–19}}

Prehistoric North Africans depicted the elephant in Paleolithic age rock art. For example, the Libyan Tadrart Acacus, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, features a rock carving of an elephant from the last phase of the Pleistocene epoch (12,000–8000 BC){{cite web|title=Rock-Art Sites of Tadrart Acacus|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/287|publisher=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|access-date=11 December 2012}} rendered with remarkable realism.{{cite web

|title=Were Cavemen Better at Drawing Animals Than Modern Artists?

|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121205200049.htm

|publisher=Science Daily|access-date=11 December 2012|date=5 December 2012

|quote=Source: reprinted from materials provided by Public Library of Science.

}} There are many other prehistoric examples, including Neolithic rock art of south Oran (Algeria), and a white elephant rock painting in 'Phillip's Cave' by the San in the Erongo region of Namibia.{{cite web|title=Phillip's Cave|url=http://www.info-namibia.com/en/activities-and-places-of-interest/erongo-outjo/phillipps-cave|publisher=Info Namibia|access-date=16 March 2013}} From the Bovidian period{{efn

|During the African pastoral 'Bovidian period', there were many depictions of Bovid herds, suggesting the development of animal domestication{{cite book

|editor-last=etc|editor-first=Thurstan Shaw

|title=The Archaeology of Africa: Food, Metals and Towns|year=1995|publisher=Routledge|location=London

|isbn=978-0415115858|page=235|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TmUwjhQX-rcC&pg=PA235|edition=New

|chapter=Rock art and pastoralism}} During this period humans began to domesticate animals, and transition to a seminomadic lifestyle as farmers and herders.{{cite web |title=Shaped Stone of the Sahara |url=https://www.artsy.net/show/pace-primitive-shaped-stone-of-the-sahara#! |website=Artsy |access-date=8 April 2019 |location=Pace Primitive |language=en}}

}} (3550–3070 BCE), elephant images by the San bushmen in the South African Cederberg Wilderness Area suggest to researchers that they had "a symbolic association with elephants" and "had a deep understanding of the communication, behaviour and social structure of elephant family units" and "possibly developed a symbiotic relationship with elephants that goes back thousands of years."{{cite journal|last=Paterson |first=Andrew |title=Elephants (!X6 ) of the Cederberg Wilderness Area |journal=The Digging Stick |date=December 2004 |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=1–4 |url=http://www.archaeologysa.co.za/images/uploads/vol_24_no_3_1.pdf |access-date=12 December 2012 |issn=1013-7521 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121115103347/http://www.archaeologysa.co.za/images/uploads/vol_24_no_3_1.pdf |archive-date=15 November 2012 }}

{{stack|{{portal|Mammals}}}}

• 2006 Zakouma elephant slaughter
• Dwarf elephant
• Elephant cognition
• Knysna elephants
• Largest organisms
• List of individual elephants
• Pygmy elephant

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{{notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |title=Elephant Don: The Politics of a Pachyderm Posse |author=Caitlin O'Connell |year=2015 |isbn=978-0226106113 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |url=https://archive.org/details/elephantdonpolit0000ocon }}

• [http://elephant.elehost.com/About_Elephants/about_elephants.htm Elephant Information Repository] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090318112402/http://elephant.elehost.com/About_Elephants/about_elephants.htm |date=18 March 2009 }} – An in-depth resource on elephants
• {{EOL|289808|African Bush Elephant Loxodonta africana (Blumenbach 1797)}}
• ARKive – [https://web.archive.org/web/20051125223213/http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/mammals/Loxodonta_africana/ images and movies of the African Bush Elephant (Loxodonta africana)]
• BBC Wildlife Finder – [http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/species/African_Bush_Elephant Clips from the BBC archive, news stories and sound files of the African Bush Elephant]
• View the [http://www.ensembl.org/Loxodonta_africana/Info/Index/ elephant genome] on Ensembl
• [https://www.peoplenotpoaching.org/ People Not Poaching: The Communities and IWT Learning Platform]
• {{cite web |title=African Elephants Slaughtered in Herds Near Chad Wildlife Park |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060830-elephants-chad.html |author=Handwerk, B. |date=2006 |access-date=1 September 2006 |work=National Geographic |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060901103227/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060830-elephants-chad.html |archive-date=1 September 2006 |url-status= dead}}

{{Elephants}}

{{Proboscidea}}

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Category:African elephants

Category:Mammals of Sub-Saharan Africa

Category:Fauna of the Afrotropical realm

Category:Species that are or were threatened by habitat fragmentation

Category:Herbivorous mammals

Category:Endangered animals

Category:Endangered biota of Africa

African bush elephant

Category:National symbols of Ethiopia

African bush elephant

Category:Articles containing video clips