African elephants - Ecology & Habitat

Matriarchal societies in the African wild

The African forest elephant is smaller than the savanna elephant, and lives in central and western Africa's equatorial forests. The savanna elephant is found throughout the grassy plains and bushlands of the continent.

Social Structure
The complex social structure of elephants is organized around a system of herds composed of related females and their calves.

African elephant herds can form temporary aggregations, reaching over 1,000 individuals, mainly in East Africa. These associations occur during drought, human interference, or any change brought to the normal pattern of social life.

In the savanna subspecies, each family unit usually contains about 10 individuals, although several family units may join together to form a 'clan' consisting of 6 to 70 members led by a large female. Forest elephants live in smaller family units. Small, temporary associations of males also exist; the members of such groups join and leave at will. Adult bulls are often seen with cow-calf groups.

When threatened, elephants will group around young calves and the matriarch, the leader of the group, may attack the foe. Young elephants stay with their mother for many years and are also cared for by other females in the group, especially by young females known as 'allomothers'.

They care for wounded individuals and are unique in that they identify and look after elephant bones.

Life Cycle
Young elephants wean after 6 to 18 months, although they may continue nursing for over 6 years. Male elephants leave their natal group at puberty and tend to form much more fluid alliances with other males. This species is extremely long-lived (up to 70 years) and although females may reach sexual maturity at 10 years old they are mostly fertile between 25 and 45. Males need to reach 20 years of age in order to successfully compete for mating.

Breeding
Usually, a single calf is born every 2.5-9 years at the onset of the wet season, after a gestation period of 22 months. Females can remain fertile until 55- 60 years old.

Diet
The diet of elephants consists mainly of leaves and branches of bushes and trees, but they also eat grasses, fruit, and bark. This selection varies depending on the time of year; during the rainy season the elephant will feed more on grass than during the dry season.