Elephantidae Loxodonta

... commonly known as the African elephant.  The African elephant can be distinguished from it's Asian cousins by it's larger stature, bigger ears and by having two "fingers" or "lips" at the end of their trunk, as opposed to the Asian elephant's one.  They can eat up to 450 kilos of plant matter per day but their digestive system only processes about 40% of it.  In parts of Africa there is an overpopulation problem with elephants.  Quite a quandary... what to do with an overpopulation of car-sized mammals that we went through so much effort to protect.

As many elephants as we saw, I never tired of watching them.  The way they use their tusks and trunks to break down trees was fascinating- many of them had an expert understanding of leverage.  Sadly we saw many areas where the elephant population had decimated  the vegetation.  There were entire orchards of indigenous trees that had been broken down to leafless stumps of brush that stood 4 feet high.  The baobab tree in particular is a prime target for the elephant.  During the dry season they become a staple because the soft, corky trunk stores large amounts of water.

Chewed up trees were a common sight in Botswana.  Interestingly, elephant dung looks nearly identical in texture and color, owing to the fact that 60% of its makeup is undigested vegetation.  We learned much about animal dung on this adventure... but that's a separate post in itself.

Elephants can live up to 80 years, with child bearing years being between the ages of 20 and 50 years on average.  The mother generally carries the child for 22 months with each pregnancy bearing one calf.  Time between pregnancies can range from two to four years.  A group of elephants is called a "parade of elephants" and the little ones are usually in the center, protected by the adults.  As a general rule, if a baby elephant can still walk under the adults' bellies, it's less than a year old.  

We've all heard that elephants never forget.  While that may not be entirely true, they do in fact have quite extraordinary memories.  The ivory trade nearly wiped out the elephant population, bringing it's numbers down to only 600,000.  In 1990, ivory sales was banned, but in some of the areas hardest hit by poachers, the elephants are still hostile toward humans.  Twenty one years later, they would still flap their ears in irritation and trumpet angrily as we passed.  I don't blame them.

Notably, the African elephant's ear mimics the shape of the African continent.

Interestingly, I learned that the legend of the elephant graveyard is generally a myth. It is true that the bones of old elephants are commonly found in groups, but the reason is not because they have some sense of burial rite or tradition.  Elephants have 6 sets of teeth and as the forward set wears out, the next ones move forward, much like conveyor belt.  As the elephant wears out it's last set, it must seek out softer foods, usually around bogs and marshes.  The elephant will stay in that area until it can no longer eat, at which point it will starve to death.

I wish we had these signs in Los Angeles.  It would make driving more interesting.