Loxodonata africana

Length: unable to measure accurately

Height: 2.4-3.4 m (7.8-11’) female, 3-4 m (9.8-13’) male

Tail: 1- 1.5m (3-5’)

Weight: 2 200-3 500 kg (4,850-7,700 lb.) female, 4 000-6 300 kg (8,800-13,900 lb.) male

Status: endangered, but due to increased protection population is stable and increasing in some areas; poaching remains a threat that, should the price of ivory increase again, could bring about a severe drop in elephant numbers; currently about 600,000 left

Habitat: found in a wide variety of habitats and can wander as far as 80 kilometers (50 miles) from water; found in the deserts, the rainforests, grasslands, woodlands, scrub-brush and on the upper slopes of Kilimanjaro

Role: herbivore

Food: eat whatever vegetation is most abundant and nourishing in their environment; includes grasses, sedges, tree bark, fruits and nuts

Predators: lions, spotted hyena (young animals only) and humans