Botswana
Okavango Delta
Africa
African elephants are elephants of the genus Loxodonta. The genus consists of two extant species: the African bush elephant, L. africana, and the smaller African forest elephant. They are the two existing genera of the family Elephantidae. Fossil remains of Loxodonta have been found only in Africa, in strata as old as the middle Pliocene.
African elephant societies are arranged around family units. Each family unit is made up of around ten closely related females and their calves and is led by an older female known as the matriarch. When separate family units bond, they form kinship or bond groups. After puberty, male elephants tend to form close alliances with other males.
Elephants are at their most fertile between the ages of 25 and 45. Calves are born after a gestation period of up to nearly two years. The calves are cared for by their mother and other young females in the group.
Elephants use some vocalisations that are beyond the hearing range of humans, to communicate across large distances. Elephant mating rituals include the gentle entwining of trunks. While feeding, elephants use their trunks to pluck at leaves and their tusks to tear at branches, which can cause enormous damage to foliage. – Wikipedia
Posted by Susan Roehl on 2022-11-28 04:21:03
Tagged: , Botswana 2013 , Okavango Delta , Botswana , Southern Africa , Elephant , Loxodonta africana , Heaviest Land Mammal , Herbivore , Browser , Many Different Habitats , Proboscis , Lifting Water , Grasping Objects , Keystone Species , Highly Social , Highly Intelligent , Self-awareness , IUCN Vulnerable , Sue Roehl , Pentax K-3 , coth5 , Sunrays+5
