What is an African bush elephant?

The African bush elephant ( Loxodonta africana ) is the largest of all living elephant species and the largest living land animal on Earth. Recognized as a separate species from the African forest elephant in the early 21st century, the African bush elephant is one of Africa’s "Big Five" animals. Bush elephants are known for their large, pointed ears, which they use to dissipate heat, and their tusks, which curve outward. Male bush elephants can grow up to 3.2–4 meters (10.5–13.1 feet) tall at the shoulder and weigh between 4,500 and 6,100 kg (9,900 and 13,500 pounds). The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources has classified the African bush elephant as an endangered species since 2020, with poaching and habitat loss remaining the primary threats to the species.

Where do African bush elephants live?

The African bush elephant ( Loxodonta africana ) is the largest of all living elephant species and the largest living land animal on Earth. Once found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, the African bush elephant now lives in pockets scattered across 23 African countries, in habitats ranging from savannas and forests to deserts. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources has classified the African bush elephant as an endangered species since 2020. Poaching for ivory and habitat loss remain the primary threats to the species.

What do African bush elephants look like?

The African bush elephant ( Loxodonta africana ) is the largest living land animal. They typically weigh between 9,900 and 13,500 pounds and stand up to 13.1 feet tall at the shoulder. African bush elephants are grayish to brown with sparse, coarse body hair. Their ears can grow to be approximately 6 feet long and 4 feet wide, and are large and pointed in appearance. In fact, their ears are shaped somewhat like the continent of Africa. Both males and females can grow tusks that curve outward. Their trunks are also a notable feature, being both strong and sensitive enough to lift up to 250 kg and pick up a coin. They use their trunks to breathe, drink, eat, communicate, and protect themselves from the sun.

What do African bush elephants eat in the wild?

African bush elephants are herbivores that consume between 149 and 169 kg of food and up to 190 liters of water daily. Their diet includes grasses, plants, fruits, twigs, roots, and tree bark. To supplement this intake, they require minerals, especially salt, which they obtain from watering holes and through geophagy (eating soil). Elephants consume so much that they substantially affect and even alter the ecosystems they inhabit.

How do African bush elephants interact with each other in a herd?

African bush elephants live in herds that have complex social structures. The core of these herds is the family unit, which can include up to 70 elephants, but has no adult males except when mating. These herds are matriarchies, led by the oldest and largest female, or cow. Social memory is important for elephants to maintain their social structures within the herd. The matriarch's experience and memory are vital for the herd’s survival, especially when guiding them to food and water and leading during migration. The entire herd helps to raise and protect calves. Male calves will leave the family unit at around 14 years of age and live alone or in herds with other young males.

Why are African bush elephants important to the environment?

African bush elephants play a crucial role in their ecosystems. They thin vegetation by consuming or crushing small trees and plants, which increases sunlight, water, and nutrient availability for remaining plants. As herbivores, they can consume between 149 and 169 kg of food per day, consisting of grasses, plants, fruits, twigs, roots, and tree bark. Fruits are a large part of their diet, and as they move throughout their habitat, they aid in seed dispersal through their dung, which acts as a natural fertilizer, contributing to the survival of various plants and trees.

African bush elephant

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Images & Videos

African elephant (Loxodonta africana) standing on grassy plain with distant trees and hills in Amboseli National Park, Kenya.

African elephants (Loxodonta africana) live in the area surrounding Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.

A herd of African elephants stands at the edge of the Chobe River in Botswana, drinking water with a backdrop of dry hills and scattered green trees.

Quick Facts

Also called:: African savanna elephant or bush elephant

Related Topics:: What’s the Difference Between Asian and African Elephants?; How much does an elephant weigh?

See all related content

African bush elephant

mammal

Also known as: African bush elephant, African savanna elephant, Loxodonta africana, bush elephant(Show More)

Written by

Adam Volle

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Oct. 16, 2026 •History

Top Questions

What is an African bush elephant?
The African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana) is the largest of all living elephant species and the largest living land animal on Earth. Recognized as a separate species from the African forest elephant in the early 21st century, the African bush elephant is one of Africa’s "Big Five" animals.

Bush elephants are known for their large, pointed ears, which they use to dissipate heat, and their tusks, which curve outward. Male bush elephants can grow up to 3.2–4 meters (10.5–13.1 feet) tall at the shoulder and weigh between 4,500 and 6,100 kg (9,900 and 13,500 pounds).

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources has classified the African bush elephant as an endangered species since 2020, with poaching and habitat loss remaining the primary threats to the species.
2 Britannica Sources
1. What’s the Difference Between Asian and African Elephants?
2. African bush elephant
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Where do African bush elephants live?
The African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana) is the largest of all living elephant species and the largest living land animal on Earth. Once found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, the African bush elephant now lives in pockets scattered across 23 African countries, in habitats ranging from savannas and forests to deserts.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources has classified the African bush elephant as an endangered species since 2020. Poaching for ivory and habitat loss remain the primary threats to the species.
2 Britannica Sources
1. African bush elephant
2. African forest elephant: Classification and conservation status
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What do African bush elephants look like?
The African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana) is the largest living land animal. They typically weigh between 9,900 and 13,500 pounds and stand up to 13.1 feet tall at the shoulder.

African bush elephants are grayish to brown with sparse, coarse body hair. Their ears can grow to be approximately 6 feet long and 4 feet wide, and are large and pointed in appearance. In fact, their ears are shaped somewhat like the continent of Africa. Both males and females can grow tusks that curve outward.

Their trunks are also a notable feature, being both strong and sensitive enough to lift up to 250 kg and pick up a coin. They use their trunks to breathe, drink, eat, communicate, and protect themselves from the sun.
6 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What do African bush elephants eat in the wild?
African bush elephants are herbivores that consume between 149 and 169 kg of food and up to 190 liters of water daily. Their diet includes grasses, plants, fruits, twigs, roots, and tree bark. To supplement this intake, they require minerals, especially salt, which they obtain from watering holes and through geophagy (eating soil).

Elephants consume so much that they substantially affect and even alter the ecosystems they inhabit.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How do African bush elephants interact with each other in a herd?
African bush elephants live in herds that have complex social structures. The core of these herds is the family unit, which can include up to 70 elephants, but has no adult males except when mating. These herds are matriarchies, led by the oldest and largest female, or cow.

Social memory is important for elephants to maintain their social structures within the herd. The matriarch's experience and memory are vital for the herd’s survival, especially when guiding them to food and water and leading during migration. The entire herd helps to raise and protect calves. Male calves will leave the family unit at around 14 years of age and live alone or in herds with other young males.
4 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Why are African bush elephants important to the environment?
African bush elephants play a crucial role in their ecosystems. They thin vegetation by consuming or crushing small trees and plants, which increases sunlight, water, and nutrient availability for remaining plants. As herbivores, they can consume between 149 and 169 kg of food per day, consisting of grasses, plants, fruits, twigs, roots, and tree bark.

Fruits are a large part of their diet, and as they move throughout their habitat, they aid in seed dispersal through their dung, which acts as a natural fertilizer, contributing to the survival of various plants and trees.
2 Britannica Sources
1. African bush elephant: Classification and conservation status
2. African forest elephant: Natural history
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

African bush elephant, (Loxodonta africana), one of two living species of African elephants (genus Loxodonta) and the largest of all living elephant species. The African bush elephant is also Earth’s largest living land animal, and it is one of the world’s most famous, being renowned globally for its elongated nose (“trunk”), long tusks, and large sail-shaped ears. The African bush elephant is considered one of Africa’s “Big Five” animals with which the continent is associated. Once found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, the effects of poaching and habitat loss have caused the animal’s numbers and geographic range to decline to the point where conservation organizations have classified it as an endangered species. At present the African bush elephant resides in pockets scattered across 23 African countries in habitats that range from savannas and forests to deserts.

Natural history

Male bush elephants often grow as tall as 3.2–4 metres (10.5–13.1 feet) at the shoulder and weigh up to between 4,500 and 6,100 kg (between about 9,900 and 13,500 pounds; 5–6.7 tons), with the largest known bush elephant weighing 10,886 kg (24,000 pounds; 12 tons). Males, on average, are more than 20 percent taller than and nearly twice as heavy as females. To sustain themselves, these animals require 149–169 kg (330–375 pounds) of food and up to 190 litres (about 50 gallons) of water per day. A savanna elephant’s food consists of grass, plants, fruit, twigs, roots, and tree bark. This diet must be supplemented with minerals, particularly salt, due to an insufficient amount of sodium in their other foods. Some of this sodium can be found in certain watering holes rich in the chemical element, but the rest is obtained through geophagy (eating soil).

On a hot day, an elephant might use its trunk to spray water onto its back to cool down or travel to watering holes to bathe in the water or mud; however, the African bush elephant relies primarily on its ears to dissipate heat. The ears can be up to 1.8 metres (about 6 feet) long and 1.2 metres (4 feet) wide, and they hold large blood vessels. Blood that passes through these vessels cools down before recirculating through the rest of the body, which, in turn, cools the rest of the elephant. Elephants lack large concentrations of sweat glands, although they have a few, occurring only in the feet, which do contribute slightly to cooling.

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The fundamental building block of the savanna elephant herd is the family unit, which may comprise up to 70 animals. There are no adult males (“bulls”) in these families; they only associate with females for mating. The oldest and typically largest female elephant (“cow”) is the leader, called a matriarch. Pregnancies take 22 months, the longest gestation period of any mammal, and usually result in one calf, which is raised and protected by the entire herd. If the calf is male, it will leave the family unit at about 14 years of age to either live singly or with a herd of other young bulls (see also elephant: Reproduction and life cycle).

Classification and conservation status

The species L. africana encompassed all African elephants until the beginning of the 21st century. Between 2000 and 2010, however, scientists began to recognize two separate species of African elephants, the African bush elephant (L. africana) and the African forest elephant (L. cyclotis). While these two animals have much more in common with each other than they do with Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), there are several physical differences, in addition to genetic differences, that set them apart from one another. Bush elephants have larger ears that are more pointed and less oval-shaped than those of forest elephants. The tusks of bush elephants curve outward, whereas those of forest elephants are straighter and point down.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources has classified the African bush elephant as an endangered species since 2020. Previous assessments in 2004 and 2008, which did not distinguish between African bush and forest elephant species, classified African elephants as a vulnerable species. Since the 1970s, poaching has remained the primary threat to the species, since the animal is often hunted for its ivory tusks. Habitat loss stemming from changing land use and land cover also remains a significant threat in many parts of their range.

Adam Volle

African bush elephant

Natural history

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Classification and conservation status