Types of Elephants

The African Bush Elephant is the largest of the two species of African elephant (the other species is the African Forest Elephant) with the male of the species reaching up to 7.5 metres (24.6 ft).​

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Diet: Their diet varies according to the habitat; elephants living in forests, partial deserts and grasslands eat herbs and trees or shrubbery leaves in different proportions based on the availability. Some elephants also eat underwater plant life. They are also known to drink over 190 litres per day.​

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Herd: Herds are made up of related females and their young, directed by the matriarch, the eldest female. The matriarch decides the route for the herd to locate water sources which the herd will memorize for future use. Occasionally, an adult male goes with them, but usually leaves upon reaching adolescence to form bachelor herds with other elephants of the same age. ​

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Social Behavior: Relations among the members of the herd are very tight; when a female gives birth to a baby the rest go to acknowledge it touching her with the trunk; and when an old elephant dies the rest of the herd will stay by the corpse for a while. ​

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Predators: due to their size, these elephants generally have no natural predators but the calves (especially the newborn) are vulnerable to lion and crocodile attacks, and (rarely) to leopard and hyena attacks. There are prides of lions who prey on both infants and juveniles especially in the drought months.

The African Forest Elephant Not much was known about the forest elephants until recently because tracking them was very difficult. The African Forest elephant lives where its name implies – the forest. The male elephant rarely exceeds 2.5 metres (8 ft) in height and is therefore smaller than the African Bush Elephant
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Diet: These elephants are herbivores and commonly eat leaves, fruit and bark with occasional visits to mineral licks.  They require an intake of water daily and can consume up to 50 gallons per day.

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Herd: The herd can usually be found in the dense lowland jungle of West and Central Africa. Males are generally solitary and females live in small groups with one or two of their offspring. They communicate with each other using low calls heard by other elephants through several kilometers of dense jungle, but too low to be detected by humans.

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Predators: Humans are the main predators of these elephants.