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African Elephant
Savanna Elephant
Common Name: Savanna elephant
Scientific Name: Loxodonta africana Africana
Location: All of sub-Saharan Africa except for Central Africa’s dense tropical forest
Savanna elephants are found throughout the grassy plains and bushlands of Africa. They contribute to the maintenance of the savannas and open woodlands by reducing tree densities. Without them, many other plants and animals would not survive in the woodland areas. Savanna elephants are well studied and populations are easily estimated as a result of their visibility within the open areas where they live.
Herd of elephants roaming the green savanna.
© WWF-Canon / Folke Wulf
Physical Description
Savanna elephants are larger than forest elephants, and their tusks curve outward. There are differences in the size and shape of their skull and skeleton compared to the forest elephant.
Diet
As a result of their habitat, savanna elephants are often found grazing on grasses, but they also consume a wide variety of plants and fruits. This selection varies depending on the time of year; during the rainy season the elephant will feed more on grass than during the dry season.
Reproduction
African elephants can breed all year, but there is a slight peak in births in savanna elephants during the rainy season.
African elephants communicate across large distances at a low frequency that cannot be heard by humans.
Social structure
In the savanna subspecies, each family unit usually contains 10 individuals and the bulls associate with these herds. Several family units often join together to form a 'clan' consisting of up to several hundred members led by a large female.
WWF Works to:
The primary threat to savanna elephants is human elephant conflict. As the elephants continue to raid crop fields, farmers are being killed while trying to defend their fields and elephants are becoming the source of resentment and anger by the local communities.
Destroyed water pump because of African savanna elephant attack.
© Jo BENN / WWF-Canon
WWF has been actively working with the farmers living in and around Quirimbas National Park in northern Mozambique so that both animals and humans can live in harmony. Local communities asked WWF for help to instruct them on techniques to mitigate human elephant conflict that eliminates physical confrontation, protects agricultural fields and saves lives. The number of elephants and subsistence farmers being killed from the conflict over planted food has dramatically decreased due to WWF’s innovative, but cheap and simple, chili bomb defense system.
The two lines of defense exploit elephants’ strong aversion to chilies. The elephants are first repelled by a “chili cord” covered with a combination of chilies and engine oil that is strung around the border of the fields. If the elephants persist beyond the ropes, communities throw or ignite a concoction of chilies, water, and dung, called “chili bombs,” in the direction of the elephants. The dry “bombs” hit the ground and “explode” in a cloud of very spicy dust, which acts as an irritant that forces them to flee. This technique that does not harm the elephants has dramatically improved the conflict with elephants in local communities.
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