Wildlife: Mammals -
Elephant 2/4
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Wildlife
Loxodonta Africana, African Elephant, Afrikaanse Olifant,
Afrikanische Elefant.
Habitat
From of old elephants roamed all of Africa. However, due to human settlement
they had to leave more and more of their former habitat. In the Kruger National
Park they are typically found in tree savanna, woodland and grassland near
rivers, food plains and similar areas providing sufficient food, water and
shade. They are highly depended on water but can move distances up to 80
kilometres away to feed. Since they are very capable of moving over large
distances they can use many different habitats in the same region. Elephants can
be a threat to environments when they are too many since they will consume much
of the vegetation and trees and thus causing the possible threat of severe
erosion..
 Diet
The elephant is a vegetarian, it will feed any plant material.
Grass, forbs, the leaves, branches, bark and roots of trees,
fruits, seeds, pods, wood, reeds and sedges and so on. They are
also very unselective, for instance when browsing acacia they
will eat more wood then leaves. In summer time grasses contain
the foremost part of their diet. In winter they rely on woody
plants. Since elephants only digest approximately of their daily
intake, with a male elephant aged ten years, of 150 kilogramms,
a mere 40%. This makes them a dung producing animal having a
great responsibility in providing the circumstances for plants
by proving cycling nutrients. Since elephants have a profound
liking for crops they cannot co-exist with agriculture. In many
countries they have caused great problems between farming
communities and free roaming populations. Thus the game rangers
in the Kruger National Park often have to chase away elephants
who leave the park in search of crops from privately owned
farms.
Life history
The elephant will breed throughout the year. But there seems to
be a peak in births in summer time. Gestation takes up to 22
months. Since this is a long time the elephant is quite a
vulnerable animal with regards to severely severed herds. One
calf is born, only in 1% of all pregnancies twins are born. The
weight at birth is 120 kilogramms with a shoulder height of 90
centimetres. They calves wean for 5 to 8 years. Calves are
vulnerable to lion and hyaena and are carefully protected by the
herd. Permanent tusks only erupt at 18 months in males, 27
months in females. Only every 5 to 6 years a calve is born to a
mother. Females stay in their family group, males will leave at
age 12. Females become sexually active at 9 to 18 years of age
while males become sexually active at 7 to 18 years old. The
elephant will live up to 60 years and will fall to predators
only when it is very old or sick. The main cause of death to
elephants is poaching by humans.
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