Geographic Range
African forest elephants occur in central and western Africa. They can be found in
northern Congo, southwestern Central African Republic, the southeast coast of Gabon,
southern Ghana, and in Cote D'Ivoire. Many of these populations are isolated from
each other currently.
Habitat
African forest elephants are most populous in central and western Africa. Areas of
high density are characterized by lowland tropical rainforests, semi-evergreen and
semi-deciduous tropical rainforests, and swamps. Elephants change habitats seasonally,
inhabiting swampy areas during the dry season, then moving back to lowland rainforest
areas in the wet season. African forest elephants seek refuge in rainforest preserves
because they are persecuted by local human populations. They are illegallly hunted
for ivory and killed for crop-raiding.
- Habitat Regions
- tropical
- terrestrial
- Terrestrial Biomes
- forest
- rainforest
- scrub forest
- Wetlands
- swamp
- Other Habitat Features
- riparian
Physical Description
African forest elephants are smaller than their close relatives, savanna elephants
(
Loxodonta africana
). Male shoulder height is greater than female shoulder height and height increases
with age. Mean shoulder height is between 144 and 155 cm (range 69 to 216 cm). Hind
footprint length is helpful in determining age, mean hind footprint length is 24.7
and the median is 25.8 cm (range 12.5 to 35.3 cm). Boli width, or feces, is also a
helpful factor in determining body size and, therefore, age. Average boli width is
10 cm (range 4 to 16 cm). Measurements of wild animals indicate that African forest
elephants stop growing at about 10 to 12 years of age, younger than their savannah
elephant relatives. Furthermore, growth rates are lower than savannah elephants. African
forest elephants also have straighter and thinner tusks that hang more vertically
to assist in passage through dense forests. They have rounded ears, unlike savanna
elephants that have overhanging flaps along the upper edge of the ear. There are also
differences in skull morphology between the two species: African forest elephants
have less pneumatization, the formation of air cells or cavities in tissue, in their
skulls than savanna elephants. African forest elephants have 4 toes on their front
feet and 3 on the hind feet, African savanna elephants have 5 toes on their front
feet and 4 on the hind feet, although hybrids occur.
Elephants have the largest brain of any land animal. The brain is located in the back
of the skull away from the forehead. Their forehead holds a sponge-like bone which
compensates for the heavy weight of the trunk. The trunk is more sensitive than human
fingers and is used to signal, trumpet, eat, bathe, dust, smell, and in defense. Trunks
are also used in respiration, especially when elephants swim. They can hold their
trunks above the water and breathe through them.
The large ears of African forest elephants help them regulate temperature because
they have few sweat glands. They cool themselves by making a fanning motion with their
ears and pump blood into the ears to help dissipate body heat. Elephants have sensitive
skin and can be prone to sunburn, especially when young. Their wrinkled skin also
helps in keeping them cool because water is trapped in the cracks and crevices, which
then evaporates. Elephants can lose 75% of their body heat using this method of cooling.
The large feet and thick fat pads on the feet act as shock absorbers to help evenly
distribute the pressure of their large body mass. Their feet are sensitive and can
pick up vibrations through the ground, including thunder and elephant calls from up
to 10 miles away.
- Other Physical Features
- endothermic
- homoiothermic
- bilateral symmetry
- Sexual Dimorphism
- male larger
- sexes shaped differently
- ornamentation
Reproduction
African forest elephants are polygynous. Males compete for access to estrus females
and older, larger, more dominant males generally mate with more females. Males experience
"musth," a hormonal state marked by increased aggression. During this period, the
male secretes a fluid from the temporal gland between the eye and ear. Musth begins
at 15 and 25 years old. There is a positive correlation between age and period of
musth in male elephants. Younger males usually experience musth for a shorter period
of time while older males usually experience it for a longer period of time. There
are several behaviors that male elephants do while in musth. They have a more erect
walk - their head held high and their tusks tucked inward. They may also rub the side
of their heads on trees or bushes in order to spread their musth scent. They may wave
or flap their ears which would blow the musth smell towards other elephants. At the
same time the ear wave is performed, a musth rumble may be transitted. A musth rumble
is a distinct set of low frequency calls they may be as low as 14 Hz. Younger males
perform these calls less frequently than older males and females usually respond with
their own calls. The last behavior associated with musth is urination. Males dribble
urine slowly and allow it to spray onto the insides of their hind legs. All of these
behaviors serve to advertise their musth state to receptive females and competing
males.
Females go through four stages of estrous behavior. The first stage is wariness, the
next stage is the estrous walk, where the female leaves her group, walking away with
her head held high and turned to the side watching the male follow her from behind.
The third stage is the chase. The fourth and final stage of estrous behavior is consortship.
A male and female elephant interact physically during this stage. The male wards off
any other males as the female gets closer to her partner.
- Mating System
- polygynous
- cooperative breeder
Because African forest elephants are a recently recognized species, there is little
specific information available on their reproduction. Information reported here is
for the previously recognized inclusive species - African elephants. Younger males
go into musth during the dry season, but older males go into musth during the wet
season, when more females go into estrous. Estrous lasts for about 2 days and occurs
approximately every 15 weeks. Gestation lasts 20 to 22 months, after which a single
young is born, although twins occur rarely. Females nurse their young for up to 6.5
years, although young begin to include vegetation in their diet in their first year
of life. Male young may nurse more than female young and allosuckling occasionally
occurs - where other female members of the group nurse another female's young.
Age at sexual maturity varies with climate, habitat, and diet. Wild female elephants
usually reach sexual maturity between 11 and 14 years old (range 9 to 22 years). Males
also reach sexual maturity at 11 to 14 years, although males typically do not successfully
reproduce until they are older, more experienced, and larger.
- Key Reproductive Features
- iteroparous
- year-round breeding
- gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
- sexual
- viviparous
Females in African forest elephant groups all contribute to the care of young. Mothers
nurse and care for their young for extended periods of time, from birth to about 8
years old. Very young calves stay within about 5 meters of their mother at all times.
When a calf is born, it can stand on its own shortly after birth. Calves are nursed
exclusively for 3 months and weaned at 78 months old. Calves spend many years learning
to navigate their complex environments and find food.
- Parental Investment
- precocial
-
pre-fertilization
- provisioning
-
protecting
- female
-
pre-hatching/birth
-
provisioning
- female
-
protecting
- female
-
provisioning
-
pre-weaning/fledging
-
provisioning
- female
-
protecting
- female
-
provisioning
-
pre-independence
-
provisioning
- female
-
protecting
- female
-
provisioning
- post-independence association with parents
- extended period of juvenile learning
Lifespan/Longevity
There are no reports of lifespan in
Loxodonta cyclotis
. Data from the previously recognized inclusive species, African elephants (
Loxodonta africana
) suggests lifespans of 65 to 70 years old in the wild. A living 53 year old elephant
is the oldest recorded age for captive African elephants, but expected lifespan in
captivity is closer to 33.
Behavior
African forest elephants travel in smaller groups than other elephant species. A typical
group size consists of 2 to 8 individuals. The average family unit is 3 to 5 individuals,
usually made up of female relatives. Most family groups are a mother and several of
her offspring, or several females and their offspring. Female offspring are philopatric,
male offspring disperse at maturity. Unlike African savanna elephants (
Loxodonta africana
), African forest elephants (
Loxodonta cyclotis
) do not usually interact with other family groups. Male African forest elephants
tend to be solitary and only associate with other elephants during the mating season.
Males have a dominance hierarchy based on size.
Home Range
Home range size of African forest elephants is difficult to determine due to their
dense forest habitat. Home range size will vary with regional characteristics, such
as proximity to water and quality of food resources.
Communication and Perception
African forest elephants, along with other elephants, communicate among widely dispersed
social groups through low-frequency sounds (5 Hz). Because
Loxodonta cyclotis
is newly recognized, there is no literature on communication and perception in this
species. However, it was previously recognized that African elephants are capable
of recognizing a call from a family member up to a distance of 2.5 km, but can better
recognize it at 1.0 to 1.5 km. Given the difference in habitat structure (savannah
vs. forest), it may be expected that detection distances are shorter in African forest
elephants. Hearing and smell are the two most important senses for these mammals.
They can hear vibrations through the ground and can use their sense of smell to detect
food sources. Like other elephants, though, African elephants have good eyesight and
extremely sensitive tactile perception through their trunks and skin. Trunks are used
extensively to manipulate objects and for information gathering. Elephants touch their
trunk to an object, then insert the trunk into the mouth, where the chemical cues
are picked up in the roof of the mouth.
- Other Communication Modes
- pheromones
- vibrations
- Perception Channels
- visual
- tactile
- acoustic
- vibrations
- chemical
Food Habits
African forest elephants are herbivorous, their diet is composed mainly of fruit,
leaves, bark, and twigs of rainforest trees. They consume a wide variety of fruit,
including
Antidesma vogelianum
,
Omphalocarpum
species,
Duboscia macrocarpa
,
Swartzia fistuloides
, and
Klainedoxa gabonensis
. Tree species eaten include legumes such as
Piptadeniastrum africanum
,
Petersianthus macrocarpus
, and
Pentaclethra eetveldeana
. Diets vary regionally with available trees and fruits. African forest elephants
supplement their herbivorous diet with minerals that they get by eating soil.
- Plant Foods
- leaves
- wood, bark, or stems
- seeds, grains, and nuts
- fruit
Predation
Humans are the greatest threats to African forest elephants. They have been extensively
hunted for their ivory, which may be why many African forest elephants travel and
feed at night. They are also persecuted by farmers for the damage they do to crops.
Crop destruction is more often the result of foraging by rats (
Nesomyidae
), porcupines (
Hystricidae
), monkeys (
Cercopithecus
), and river hogs (
Potamochoerus porcus
), but many any crop destruction on elephants. Very young African forest elephants
that somehow are separated from their family group or are ill may be preyed on by
large carnivores, such as lions (
Panthera leo
) or hyenas (
Hyaenidae
), although these predators are rare in African forest elephant habitats.
Ecosystem Roles
African forest elephants are important dispersers of seeds through their consumption of fruit. Forest dates ( Balanites wilsoniana ) are considered elephant dependent because the seed germinates more successfully after passing through an elephant. The decline of elephant populations in West African rain forests in Upper Guinea is correlated with forest date population declines. African forest elephants are also responsible for creating and maintaining large clearings in the middle of rainforests in areas where they extract mineral salts from the soil or tear down vegetation as they eat and travel. These forest openings strongly affect forest tree regeneration and increase forest tree diversity, affecting many other organisms in that area. The paths and holes in the ground that they make as they travel are used by other smaller animals for shelter or become a source of drinking water. Because of their large impact on forest composition, African forest elephants might be considered a keystone species.
Because African forest elephants were long-considered a subspecies of the inclusive
African elephant species,
Loxodonta africana
, parasites for both species have not been sorted out. However, parasites recognized
the inclusive species include: 2 species of trematodes, 32 species of nematodes, 21
species of ticks, 1 louse species, botflies, protozoans (
Babesia
), and blood-sucking flies in the family
Anthomyidae
.
- Ecosystem Impact
- disperses seeds
- creates habitat
- keystone species
- forest dates ( Balanites wilsoniana )
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
African forest elephants have affected human populations in a positive way because
they provide humans with ivory, hide, and meat. Different cultures have historically
used elephant ivory for different purposes and it is viewed as a symbol of wealth
and luxury. Ivory has been used for knife handles, combs, toys, piano keys, billiard
balls, furniture, and artwork. Portuguese in the late fifteenth century exported 100
to 120 tons of ivory average every year from western Africa. In the late nineteenth
century, the Congo exported 352 tons of ivory per year. Elephant ivory is no longer
legally traded and poaching for ivory is a major threat to elephant populations. African
forest elephants are important members of native ecosystems, impacting forest regeneration
and composition.
- Positive Impacts
- food
- body parts are source of valuable material
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
African elephants have been known to cause damage to crops. They typically are attracted
to sugarcane (
Saccharum officianarum
) and cereals like corn (
Zea mays
), sorghum (
Sorghum vulgare
), and wheat (
Triticum vulgare
). They are also attracted to many different types of millet such as finger millet
(
Eleusine coracana
), little millet (
Panicum miliare
), and bulrush millet (
Pennisetum typhoides
). Elephants are attracted to different fruits and vegetables such as mango, banana,
orange, melon, jackfruit, potato, tomato, carrot, spinach, and pumpkin. Much of the
crop damage is caused by elephants trampling over crops and is only sometimes due
to the eating of crops. Other crops often affected by African forest elephants include
oil palm (
Elaeis guineensis
), oranges (
Citrus sinensis
), and cacao (
Theobroma cacao
).
Elephants occasionally kill people. These are usually chance encounters where people
accidentally or intentionally become too close to an elephant, causing it to feel
threatened.
- Negative Impacts
- injures humans
- crop pest
Conservation Status
The IUCN Red List considers African forest elephants a subspeces of African elephants, which they consider near threatened. CITES lists African elephants under appendices I and II. Appendix I states that the animal is threatened to extinction and trade of the animal is only allowed under certain circumstances. Appendix II states that the animal is not necessarily threatened to extinction, but trade of the animal is closely monitored.
Other Comments
Until 2001, African forest elephants were considered a smaller, forest-dwelling subspecies
of the inclusive African elephant species (
Loxodonta africana
). However, clear genetic differences suggest that African forest elephants are quite
distinct and deserved species status. Morphological and behavioral differences recognized
at the subspecies level also support this distinction.
Additional Links
Contributors
Tanya Dewey (editor), Animal Diversity Web.
Tara Connor (author), Radford University, Karen Powers (editor, instructor), Radford University.
- Ethiopian
-
living in sub-Saharan Africa (south of 30 degrees north) and Madagascar.
- native range
-
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
- tropical
-
the region of the earth that surrounds the equator, from 23.5 degrees north to 23.5 degrees south.
- terrestrial
-
Living on the ground.
- forest
-
forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.
- rainforest
-
rainforests, both temperate and tropical, are dominated by trees often forming a closed canopy with little light reaching the ground. Epiphytes and climbing plants are also abundant. Precipitation is typically not limiting, but may be somewhat seasonal.
- scrub forest
-
scrub forests develop in areas that experience dry seasons.
- swamp
-
a wetland area that may be permanently or intermittently covered in water, often dominated by woody vegetation.
- riparian
-
Referring to something living or located adjacent to a waterbody (usually, but not always, a river or stream).
- endothermic
-
animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.
- bilateral symmetry
-
having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.
- sexual ornamentation
-
one of the sexes (usually males) has special physical structures used in courting the other sex or fighting the same sex. For example: antlers, elongated tails, special spurs.
- polygynous
-
having more than one female as a mate at one time
- cooperative breeder
-
helpers provide assistance in raising young that are not their own
- iteroparous
-
offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).
- year-round breeding
-
breeding takes place throughout the year
- sexual
-
reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female
- viviparous
-
reproduction in which fertilization and development take place within the female body and the developing embryo derives nourishment from the female.
- young precocial
-
young are relatively well-developed when born
- diurnal
-
- active during the day, 2. lasting for one day.
- nocturnal
-
active during the night
- motile
-
having the capacity to move from one place to another.
- nomadic
-
generally wanders from place to place, usually within a well-defined range.
- social
-
associates with others of its species; forms social groups.
- dominance hierarchies
-
ranking system or pecking order among members of a long-term social group, where dominance status affects access to resources or mates
- visual
-
uses sight to communicate
- tactile
-
uses touch to communicate
- acoustic
-
uses sound to communicate
- chemical
-
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
- pheromones
-
chemicals released into air or water that are detected by and responded to by other animals of the same species
- vibrations
-
movements of a hard surface that are produced by animals as signals to others
- visual
-
uses sight to communicate
- tactile
-
uses touch to communicate
- acoustic
-
uses sound to communicate
- vibrations
-
movements of a hard surface that are produced by animals as signals to others
- chemical
-
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
- keystone species
-
a species whose presence or absence strongly affects populations of other species in that area such that the extirpation of the keystone species in an area will result in the ultimate extirpation of many more species in that area (Example: sea otter).
- food
-
A substance that provides both nutrients and energy to a living thing.
- threatened
-
The term is used in the 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals to refer collectively to species categorized as Endangered (E), Vulnerable (V), Rare (R), Indeterminate (I), or Insufficiently Known (K) and in the 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals to refer collectively to species categorized as Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN), or Vulnerable (VU).
- herbivore
-
An animal that eats mainly plants or parts of plants.
- folivore
-
an animal that mainly eats leaves.
- frugivore
-
an animal that mainly eats fruit
References
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