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African Elephant (Ngorongoro Crater)

Loxodonta africana

Photo by July Llanes
Published on Project Noah
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Field Notes

Description:

The African elephant is the largest living terrestrial animal. Its thickset body rests on stocky legs and it has a concave back.[5] Its large ears enable heat loss.[6] Its upper lip and nose forms a trunk. The trunk acts as a fifth limb, a sound amplifier and an important method of touch. The African elephant's trunk ends in two opposing lips,[7] whereas the Asian elephant trunk ends in a single lip.[7] African elephants are bigger than Asian elephants. Males stand 3.2–4.0 m (10–13 ft) tall at the shoulder and weigh 4,700–6,048 kg (10,000–13,330 lb), while females stand 2.2–2.6 m (7.2–8.5 ft) tall and weigh 2,160–3,232 kg (4,800–7,130 lb).[8]

The largest individual recorded stood four metres to the shoulders and weighed ten tonnes.[5]

Habitat:

The African elephant can be found in Eastern Southern and West Africa,[11] either in dense forests, mopane and miombo woodlands, Sahelian scrub or deserts.[6]

Notes:

Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (6)

Hola July, Could you add this African Elephant to the Endangered species of the World mission? http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/13996003 Thanks!
Thank you all! Thanks Karen, you are right, thats what I was told by our guide.
Lovely! This is probably an old bull elephant nearing the end of it's life who has come down into the crater because the vegetation is lusher there & easier to chew. I included some more info on the Elephants of Ngorongoro in my spotting http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/7649190
Photographed
PublishedDecember 14, 2011

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