African elephants
African elephants (Loxodonta africana) drinking at Savuti Elephant Camp waterhole. Tourists are in a log pile hide at the waterhole.
Savuti Channel in the Linyanti area.
BOTSWANA. Southern Africa.
HABITAT: Woodland savanna near water.
STATUS: Botswana is one of the stongholds of the African elepant where their numbers are increasing.
These are the world's largest land mammals with a shoulder height of 3 meters and weighing 6,000kg-male and 4,000-5,000kgs for females.
Bulls and cows live in separate groups. Breeding herds generally consist of a dominant female or matriarch with a few closely related females and their offspring. Bulls are often found alone or in loosely bonded bachelor groups.
Due to heavy poaching all over Africa CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) has banned the trade of ivory products.
At the end of the dry season (around late October) there is very little water near available food so they have large distances to travel from the water in order to find enough food.
