African savanna elephant

They are large in size, with grey fur, their hindquarters are as high as their front shoulders, and their tusks are extremely long and curved upwards. The largest recorded weight of their tusks is 102.7 kg. Their ears are large, pointed at the bottom, and can be up to 1.5 meters long. They have abundant blood vessels to dissipate heat and keep the body cool. Their tails are not long, and there is a brush on the top. Their long trunks can be used not only for smelling, breathing, blowing, and drinking water, but also for grabbing things, especially delicious meals. The trunks have about 100,000 muscles. There are two finger-like protrusions at the end of the African savanna elephant's trunk, which are very sensitive and dexterous and can be used to grab small things.

Widely distributed across the African continent. It is the national animal of Mozambique and Côte d'Ivoire.

African savanna elephants live in many habitats in Africa, such as savannas, rainforests, woodlands, scrublands, and occasionally deserts and beaches. However, due to the threat of poaching, protected areas are their main habitat. In these protected areas, these elephants will inhabit areas with water sources and rich vegetation to forage for food. In these habitats, the altitude ranges from sea level to 4,000 meters.

The name of the African elephant was given by Baron George Couvier (Johann Friedrich Blumenbach) in 1825. Because its molars have diamond-shaped crowns, the genus name of the African elephant, "Loxodonta", evolved from the word "losange". It is produced in Africa and lives in a variety of natural environments from sea level to 5,000 meters above sea level, including forests, open grasslands, grasslands, thorn bushes and semi-arid jungles. It likes to live in groups, each group is led by a female animal, and forms groups of varying sizes, usually 20-30. Most of the members are its female offspring. Male animals have no place in the group. They must leave the group when they grow to 15 years old and only occasionally return to the group during mating. It is a herbivorous animal that spends 16 hours a day collecting food. Their digestive system is not efficient, and only 40% of the food can be absorbed.

In order to feed, it has to walk 16,000 kilometers a year. The migration route often passes through streams, lakes, swamps, etc., making its life like a long and patient journey to find food. The dense forest will not cause the elephants to get lost, because each group has its own sound and smell for communication. No matter how far they go, they can find the whereabouts of the family. It relies on a vibrating part on the forehead to send out sound signals. The frequency is mostly between 14-24 Hz, which is low-frequency and cannot be heard by human ears, but it also contains some harmonics that can be heard by human ears.

African savanna elephants are invincible on the grasslands, but they mostly compete with other animals in a gentle way. Only when they are angry or afraid, they may hurt other animals. At this time, even the strong rhinoceros will retreat. Although adult African savanna elephants are not afraid of any animal's attack threat, their cubs are unable to resist the attacks of lions, hyenas, wild dogs and vultures. Therefore, when resting, the group often stands in a circle and stays alert for defense and self-defense. Even if the female elephants feel a little danger, they will use their long noses to remind the cubs. When the group is migrating long distances and on a large scale, the cubs must keep up closely, but the females will also stay by their side to protect them and repel the carnivores that attempt to attack at any time. Very few people can find the remains of wild African savanna elephants after natural death, especially where the ivory is piled. Because when an African savanna elephant dies, the family members will feel very sad. After a period of silence around the skeleton of their kind, they will decompose the remains, take them away one by one, and hide the ivory and each bone in different directions and places in the dense forest.

The sharp decline in the number of African savanna elephants is mainly caused by two factors. One is the rapid growth of the African population and the development and destruction of forests and grasslands, which has led to the shrinking of the territory for wild animals to survive and the deterioration of the environment. As a result, the natural mortality rate of elephants has soared. The second is indiscriminate hunting. In the past, Africans hunted elephants mainly for meat and skin. However, after the 1970s, ivory became the main object of elephant hunting. This is not only because of the rapid increase in demand for ivory in the international handicraft market, but also because of the turbulence in the international financial market. Ivory, like gold and diamonds, is regarded as a hard currency with stable value, and some major Western banks are competing to buy and store it.

In order to protect endangered elephants, Kenya and other countries have called on this conference to implement a 20-year ban on ivory trade, curb illegal ivory trade, severely punish poaching, and prevent elephant extinction. Because ivory can be used to make precious handicrafts, elephants are often attacked by poachers. As large animals, they have a long reproductive cycle and are therefore very easy to become extinct. Countries have banned ivory trade to protect elephants. Chinese law has also banned ivory trade and continued production of ivory products.

Listed in the "World Conservation Union Red List of Threatened Species" (IUCN) 2008 ver3.1-Vulnerable (VU).

Listed in the "World Conservation Union Red List of Threatened Species" (IUCN) 2020 ver3.1-Endangered (EN).

Listed in Appendix I, Appendix II and Appendix III of the 2019 edition of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

In 2022, many countries proposed to transfer the African savanna elephant from Appendix II to Appendix I of the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

The name of the African elephant was given by Baron George Couvier (Johann Friedrich Blumenbach) in 1825. Because its molars have diamond-shaped crowns, the genus name of the African elephant, "Loxodonta", evolved from the word "losange". It is produced in Africa and lives in a variety of natural environments from sea level to 5,000 meters above sea level, including forests, open grasslands, grasslands, thorn bushes and semi-arid jungles. It likes to live in groups, each group is led by a female animal, and forms groups of varying sizes, usually 20-30. Most of the members are its female offspring. Male animals have no place in the group. They must leave the group when they grow to 15 years old and only occasionally return to the group during mating. It is a herbivorous animal that spends 16 hours a day collecting food. Their digestive system is not efficient, and only 40% of the food can be absorbed.

In order to feed, it has to walk 16,000 kilometers a year. The migration route often passes through streams, lakes, swamps, etc., making its life like a long and patient journey to find food. The dense forest will not cause the elephants to get lost, because each group has its own sound and smell for communication. No matter how far they go, they can find the whereabouts of the family. It relies on a vibrating part on the forehead to send out sound signals. The frequency is mostly between 14-24 Hz, which is low-frequency and cannot be heard by human ears, but it also contains some harmonics that can be heard by human ears.

African savanna elephants are invincible on the grasslands, but they mostly compete with other animals in a gentle way. Only when they are angry or afraid, they may hurt other animals. At this time, even the strong rhinoceros will retreat. Although adult African savanna elephants are not afraid of any animal's attack threat, their cubs are unable to resist the attacks of lions, hyenas, wild dogs and vultures. Therefore, when resting, the group often stands in a circle and stays alert for defense and self-defense. Even if the female elephants feel a little danger, they will use their long noses to remind the cubs. When the group is migrating long distances and on a large scale, the cubs must keep up closely, but the females will also stay by their side to protect them and repel the carnivores that attempt to attack at any time. Very few people can find the remains of wild African savanna elephants after natural death, especially where the ivory is piled. Because when an African savanna elephant dies, the family members will feel very sad. After a period of silence around the skeleton of their kind, they will decompose the remains, take them away one by one, and hide the ivory and each bone in different directions and places in the dense forest.

The sharp decline in the number of African savanna elephants is mainly caused by two factors. One is the rapid growth of the African population and the development and destruction of forests and grasslands, which has led to the shrinking of the territory for wild animals to survive and the deterioration of the environment. As a result, the natural mortality rate of elephants has soared. The second is indiscriminate hunting. In the past, Africans hunted elephants mainly for meat and skin. However, after the 1970s, ivory became the main object of elephant hunting. This is not only because of the rapid increase in demand for ivory in the international handicraft market, but also because of the turbulence in the international financial market. Ivory, like gold and diamonds, is regarded as a hard currency with stable value, and some major Western banks are competing to buy and store it.

In order to protect endangered elephants, Kenya and other countries have called on this conference to implement a 20-year ban on ivory trade, curb illegal ivory trade, severely punish poaching, and prevent elephant extinction. Because ivory can be used to make precious handicrafts, elephants are often attacked by poachers. As large animals, they have a long reproductive cycle and are therefore very easy to become extinct. Countries have banned ivory trade to protect elephants. Chinese law has also banned ivory trade and continued production of ivory products.

Listed in the "World Conservation Union Red List of Threatened Species" (IUCN) 2008 ver3.1-Vulnerable (VU).

Listed in the "World Conservation Union Red List of Threatened Species" (IUCN) 2020 ver3.1-Endangered (EN).

Listed in Appendix I, Appendix II and Appendix III of the 2019 edition of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

In 2022, many countries proposed to transfer the African savanna elephant from Appendix II to Appendix I of the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.