Chimp & See Talk

Elephant species

  • Pugli by Pugli scientist

    Hi there!

    Just a short summary of physical elephant signs to distinguish the two african elephant species Loxodonta africana (Bush elephant) and Loxodonta cyclotis (Forest elephant). In order not to complicate it too much, the examples given here are based mainly on adult individuals. The first features mentioned below describe the Bush elephant, followed by those of the Forest elephant (separated by the double slash).

    Height: 3 - 4 m // 2 - 3 m

    Weight: 4.000 - 7.000 kg // 2.000 - 4.500 kg

    Skin: more wrinkled // less wrinkled (a bit smoother)

    Ears (cuts usually are individual; the older they get, the more folded the ear can be):
    shape of african continent // round

    Tusks (both sexes; males have stronger ones): usually curved, thicker // more or less straight downwards, thinner

    Tip of trunk (2 fingertips): thicker, stronger // thinner

    Hair: less hairy // more hairy and they tend to have longer eye-lashes

    Number of footnails (usually): Front 4, Back 3 // Front 5, Back 4 (like the asian ones)

    Reproductive organs: Vagina visible in both species. Could be mixed up with the penis!

    So with the given examples it will stay very tricky to distinguish them sometimes. But it's fun anyway 😃

    Posted