| Name: | Loxodonta Africana | | Order: | Probosidae | | Weight: | Up to 7 tonnes | | Height: | Up to 4 metres | | Longevity: | 70+ | | Reproduction: | puberty 13-14 years, gestation 22 months, reproduce until 50 years | | Description: | huge ears, straight back, tusks on both sexes, females half size of males | | Anatomy: | heart rate 28/min |
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 | | | | | | : Emotions | | As well as having incredible memories elephants also laugh and cry. They express joy when greeting friends, when a baby is born and when playing games. This may be displayed in a variety of ways, by spinning around, defecating, urinating whilst holding their heads high, flopping their ears and erupting in a chorus of roars, trumpets and rumbles. Elephants also grieve. A mother may stay around her stillborn baby for several days in a state of denial, slumped over her baby, crying and trying to revive it. | |
| : Human Conflicts in The Park | | Within the province of Cabo Delgado there are three elephant migratory routes for a rising population of between 3000-4000 individuals. Elephants are becoming more and more of a pest in this region, they raid fields and destroy crops. Loss of life on both sides sometimes takes place; people get trampled whilst protecting their livelihood, and in turn game guards may shoot the raiding elephants. | |
| | | : Global Threats | | Since 1970 the population of African elephants south of the Sahara has halved. This is due to two reasons. Firstly, changes in land use (only 20% of their range is protected) and secondly, the demand for ivory. As the human population continues to grow throughout the elephants' range, habitat loss and degradation will become the major threats to the elephants' survival. | |
| : Ecological Significance of Elephants | - Convert savannah and woodlands into grasslands.
- Provide water for other species through digging water holes and creating puddles with their footprints, a critical role in an environment where water is at a premium.
- Disperse seeds through their faeces providing nutrition.
- Disturb small animals supplying prey for birds.
- Create paths which act as firebreaks.
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"Conserving elephants, is much more than an issue about how to protect a single species. It is about protecting one of the forces that shapes ecosystems and helps sustain the wealth of wildlife found across much of the continent. It is about saving the creative power of nature." | 
