What makes elephants different from other animals

There are only around 45, left in the wild. We also support local people to live alongside elephants by protecting their fields from crop-raiding animals using solar powered electric fences and by installing beehives elephants hate bees.

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Choose one-off donation Prefer a monthly donation? Top 10 facts about elephants. Adopt an elephant. More animal facts. You can tell the two species apart by their ears There are two species of elephant: African and Asian. At birth, elephants already weigh some pounds and stand about three feet tall. Before the Europeans began colonizing Africa, there may have been as many as 26 million elephants. By the early 20th century, their numbers had dropped to 10 million. Hunting continued to increase.

By , their numbers were down to 1. Between and , hunting and poaching put the African elephant at risk of extinction, reducing its population by another half.

In the years since, poaching has continued to threaten both species: Savanna elephants declined by 30 percent between and , while forest elephants declined by 64 percent from to as poaching worsened in Central and West Africa. In , the International Union for Conservation of Nature recognized them as separate species for the first time , listing savanna elephants as endangered and forest elephants as critically endangered.

As few as , remain today. Compounding the problem is how long it takes for elephants to reproduce. With reproduction rates hovering around 5 to 6 percent , there are simply not enough calves being born to make up for the losses from poaching. African elephants are also losing their habitat as the human population grows and people convert land for agriculture and development. Elephants need a lot of room, so habitat destruction and fragmentation not only makes it harder for them to find food, water, and each other, but it also puts them in increased conflict with humans.

The decision to recognize African elephants as two separate species is seen as an important step for conservation, as it highlights the different challenges that each species faces. Scientists hope that the listing will bring more attention to forest elephants, which have often been overlooked by governments and donors when grouped together with more visible savanna elephants. African elephants are protected to varying degrees in all the countries of their geographic range.

There have been recent efforts to bring re-legalize the international trade in ivory, but those so far have failed. Conservation groups and governments have worked to set aside land for wildlife— including corridors that connect those protected lands. Still, researchers believe that up to 70 percent of elephants' range is on unprotected land. To curb poaching, stopping the illegal trade is key. Advocates have launched campaigns that address both the supply side poaching and the demand side people who buy ivory.

Since the ban went into effect, public demand for ivory seems to have fallen. On the supply side, protecting elephants from poaching also requires a local approach. In , a study showed that the suffering of elephants is tied to that of the humans living nearby: Regions with high levels of poverty and corruption are more likely to have higher poaching rates. This suggests that helping communities develop sustainable livelihoods could reduce the lure of poaching. Minnie was born in Asia in She was taken from the wild and exported to North Amer Ronnie was born wild in Asia in Like so many other circus elephants, she was capt Captured in Thailand as a calf, Sissy first appeared in the United States on exhibit at Tarra was born in Burma now Myanmar in At six months old, she was separated fro Elephants are the only remaining members of the Proboscidea order of mammals.

The order included the extinct wooly mammoth and American mastodon. Other species rely on the keystone species for survival. African savannah elephants Loxodonta Africana live in the grasslands of sub-Saharan Africa. These are distinguished by physical traits related to their geographic location. In the wild, elephants are migratory, walking miles each day. They form intricate family structures and grieve for their dead in a more-than-instinctive way.

They show humor and express compassion. Hands-on self-guided exhibits and educational programming that explore the many ways elephants shape our world. Live, on-demand, and asynchronous content. Our programs are fun, educational, and cater to all ages.

Elephant calves grow quickly, gaining 2 to 3 lbs. By the time they are 2 or 3 years old, calves are ready to be weaned. All elephants are mammals belonging to the elephantidae family. There are two subspecies of the African elephant: the savanna or bush elephant Loxodonta africana and the forest elephant Loxodonta cyclotis. However, forest elephants may in fact be a distinct species of elephant instead of a subspecies, according to Cornell University.

There are three subspecies of Asian elephant: the Indian elephant Elephas maximus indicus , the Sri Lankan elephant Elephas maximus maximus , and the Sumatran elephant Elephas maximus sumatranus. Another possible subspecies is Elephas maximus borneensis Borneo pygmy elephant. Though it is not known exactly how many Asian elephants remain, experts believe that the population is decreasing. The African elephant is considered vulnerable, according to the IUCN, and the species' population is increasing.

According to the African Wildlife Foundation , there are around , African elephants in the wild. Threats against the survival of both African and Asian elephants include poaching and habitat loss, according to World Wildlife Fund.

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