African Elephants

An elephant will try to make itself look bigger by spreading its ears out when it is threatened.

Elephants can often be seen hiding under the shade of the acacia tree during the hottest times of the day.

African elephants have several noticeable features including:

- one bump on their head
- their back has a dip
- huge ears
- both male and females have tusks
- the tip of their trunk has two fingers
- the head is usually below their shoulders
- not much hair
- legs are longer
- male can be up to 11 ft. high at shoulder and female up to 9 ft. at shoulder.
- males can weigh up to 13,000 lbs.

African elephants are extinct in North Africa but can be found throughout central and southern Africa. There are different species which prefer different habitats within Africa: bush elephant, open grasslands elephant, mountain elephant, forest elephant, and the desert elephant.