African bush elephant
Scientific name: Loxodonta africana (Blumenbach, 1797)
Overview
The African bush elephant, also known as the African savanna elephant, is a species of elephant native to sub-Saharan Africa and the largest living terrestrial animal, with fully grown bulls reaching an average shoulder height of 3.04–3.36 m (10.0–11.0 ft) and a body mass of 5.2–6.9 t ; the largest recorded specimen had a shoulder height of 3.96 m (13.0 ft) and an estimated body mass of 10.4 t. It is characterised by its long prehensile trunk with two finger-like processes; a concave back; large ears which help reduce body heat; and sturdy tusks that are noticeably curved. Its skin is grey with scanty hairs, and bending cracks which support thermoregulation by retaining water.
From the Wikipedia article “African bush elephant”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Conservation status
Endangered on the IUCN Red List, as recorded on Wikidata, citing The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022.2.
Where it lives
The Catalogue of Life records it in: Africa.
Common names
Also known in English as African elephant, African Savanna Elephant, African savannah elephant.
Names in other languages (12)
- Arabic
- فيل الأدغال الإفريقي
- Chinese
- 非洲象
- French
- Éléphant Africain, Éléphant d'Afrique, éléphant de savane d'Afrique
- German
- Afrikanischer Buschelefant, Afrikanischer Elefant
- Hindi
- अफ़्रीकी सवाना हाथी
- Indonesian
- Gajah Semak Afrika
- Japanese
- アフリカゾウ
- Persian
- فیل بیشه آفریقایی
- Portuguese
- Elefante-da-savana
- Russian
- Саванный слон
- Spanish
- Elefante Africano
- Turkish
- Afrika savan fili
Related animals
Sources
-
Catalogue of Life — scientific name, classification, common names and range.
Version 2026-09-11, CC BY 4.0.
This species in the Catalogue of Life.
Citation
Bánki, O., Roskov, Y., Döring, M., Ower, G., Hernández Robles, D. R., Plata Corredor, C. A., Stjernegaard Jeppesen, T., Örn, A., Pape, T., Hobern, D., Garnett, S., Little, H., DeWalt, R. E., Miller, J., Orrell, T., Aalbu, R., Abbott, J., Aedo, C., Aescht, E., et al. (2026). Catalogue of Life (Version 2026-09-11). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgz5n Source database: The Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
- GBIF — species page and recorded occurrences.
- Wikidata — conservation status, names in other languages. Q36557, CC0 1.0.
- Wikipedia — overview, from the article “African bush elephant”, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo — Giles Laurent, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
- Range map — User:Bamse, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
Last updated: 4 October 2026