Elephant

Home Page for The Lone Tree Safari Lodge

Click Here To Request More Information Or To Book A Safari

Elephant

Appearance

This is the world’s largest land mammal, and weighs up to seven tonnes and reaches heights of 3.3 m at the shoulder. Elephants can live to a potential age of 70 years. The massive tusks of older bulls can weigh up to 50 or 60 kilograms, but tusks weighing up to 90 kilograms have been recorded.

The Elephant’s trunk is very sensitive and can even detect water under ground. There are as many as 50 000 muscles in an elephant’s trunk. The sensitive finger-like appendages at the tip of the trunk enables them to pick the smallest twig or flower.

Diet

Elephants are voracious feeders which in a day consume up to 272 Kg of grass, tender shoots and bark from trees. An adult Elephant can drink up to 200 litres of water in a single session.

Breeding

African Elephants are not seasonal breeders. Generally they produce one calf every three to four years. The gestation period is about 22 months. At birth calves weigh about 100 Kg and are fully weaned between 18-24 months.

An orphaned calf will usually be adopted by one of the family's lactating females or suckled by various females. Elephants are very attentive mothers, and because most elephant behavior has to be learned, they keep their offspring with them for many years. Tusks erupt at 16 months but do not show externally until 30 months. Once weaned usually at age 4 or 5, the calf still remains in the maternal group.

Behaviour

Mature males form bachelor groups or become solitary bulls. Elephants form strong family units of cows, calves and young offspring. Such herds are always led by an old female. Apart from drinking large quantities of water they also love wading or swimming in it. Elephants clearly relish mud baths.

It was once thought that family groups were led by old bull elephants, but these males are most often solitary. The female family groups are often visited by mature males checking for females in oestrus. Several interrelated family groups may inhabit an area and know each other well.

Females mature at about 11 years and stay in the group, while the males, which mature between 12 and 15, are usually expelled from the maternal herd. Even though these young males are sexually mature, they do not breed until they are in their mid, or late 20s or even older and have moved up in the social hierarchy

Where they are found

They are hunted for their ivory tusks. The Knysna herd is virtually hunted to extinction. The Addo Elephant and Kruger National Parks protects large herds. Due to rigorous conservation measures the elephant population in South Africa has grown from a estimated 120 in 1920 in 4 locations, to 10 000 at 40 locations to date.