Elephant species fact sheet
A one page summary for grades 3 to 5. Print it from your browser; it comes out black on white with no ads. All figures are the same ones used on the TuskWise species pages, which link to their sources.
Three living species
Elephants are the largest living land animals. There are three species alive today. Two live in Africa and one lives in Asia. All three are threatened.
| Feature | African savanna elephant | African forest elephant | Asian elephant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scientific name | Loxodonta africana | Loxodonta cyclotis | Elephas maximus |
| Where it lives | Eastern, central and southern Africa, in savanna, grassland, woodland and flood plain | Dense rainforest in central Africa and parts of West Africa | 13 countries in South and Southeast Asia, in forest, scrub and grassland |
| Ears | Very large, roughly the shape of the African continent | Large, more oval or rounded | Smaller and rounded |
| Tusks | Usually both males and females; they curve outward | Usually both males and females; straighter and pointing down | Usually males only; females grow small tushes or none |
| Trunk tip | Two finger like tips | Two finger like tips | One finger like tip |
| Size | The largest: adult males average about 3 to 3.2 m at the shoulder | The smallest of the three | In between; males larger than females |
| Food | Grazes and browses | Browses, and eats a lot of fruit | Browses and grazes, changing with the season |
| IUCN status | Endangered (2021) | Critically Endangered (2021) | Endangered |
| Latest published estimate | About 415,000 African elephants of both species combined (2016). No newer separate savanna total yet. | About 135,690 in surveyed areas (2024 status report) | About 48,323 to 51,680 (2018 data, published 2020) |
Three things every elephant needs
- Food. Adults eat roughly 75 to 150 kg of plants a day and spend about 16 hours a day feeding (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance).
- Water. A wild adult needs about 189 liters a day (Smithsonian's National Zoo).
- Family. Females and young live in family groups led by an older female called the matriarch. Adult males mostly live apart.
Check your reading
- Which species has the biggest ears, and what job do big ears do?
- Which species is Critically Endangered?
- Why might a forest elephant survive less well on an open savanna than a savanna elephant? Give one piece of evidence from the table.