African elephant (bull)

Elephants living inside the Ngorongoro Crater are almost exclusively elderly bulls who stay in the area year-round. Elephants replace their teeth six times. At about 40 to 60 years of age, the elephant no longer has teeth and will likely die of starvation, a common cause of death. Whilst females tend to stay with their herds in the highland forests around the rim of the crater, the older bulls will often 'retire' into the crater because grazing is always good here and the lush growth is softer for them to chew and digest.