ELEPHANTS & IVORY

ELEPHANT SPECIES
TRAIT AFRICAN SAVANNA AFRICAN FOREST ASIAN
DNA Genetically distinct Genetically distinct Genetically distinct
HEIGHT
WEIGHT
TUSKS
EARS
HEAD SHAPE
TRUNK
TOENAILS
Males 3.3 metres
Females 2.7 metres
Males 6 tonnes
Females 3 tonnes
Occur in both males and
females, curve upwards.
Large, shaped like map of
Africa, reach up over neck.
Rounded head, dome
shaped.
Males 3.3 metres
Females 2.7 metres
Males 6 tonnes
Females 3 tonnes
Occur in both males and
females, but smaller,
thinner, and straighter than
those in African savanna
elephants.
Smaller than in the African
savanna elephant; do not
reach up over neck.
Rounded head, dome
shaped.
Trunk is more heavily ringed and not as hard as that of
Asian elephants; tip of trunk has two finger-like projections
that are used to pick up and manipulate objects.
4 nails on front feet; 3 on
back.
5 nails on front feet; 4 on
back.
2.5-3.0 metres
Males 5.4 tonnes
Females 2.7 tonnes
Tusks occur only in some
adult males. Some females
and a small percentage of
males have rudimentary
tusks called tuches.
Small, shaped like map of
India, do not reach up over
neck.
Twin domed head with dent
in the middle
Has only one “finger”, holds
objects against underside of
trunk to manipulate them.
5 nails on front feet; 4
(rarely 5) on back.
TABLE 1 | Major differences between African savanna and African forest elephants, and Asian elephants.
Failure to accept the best available science
on the number of elephant species represents a
serious conservation threat, especially for the
imperiled African forest elephant, about which
very little is known.
The latest taxonomic information for living
elephants is summarized in Appendix 1. Further
research is still needed since there have been
suggestions that an additional species of
elephant may exist in West Africa. 14 There is also
considerable on-going debate about whether there
are three or four genetically distinct subspecies of
Asian elephants. 15
Sorting out genetically distinct elephant
species and populations is essential if we are
really concerned about the conservation of
elephants in both Africa and Asia. CITES, IUCN,
and the global conservation community should
move quickly to recognize the differences between
African savanna elephants and African forest
elephants, and to adjust their approaches for
protecting those populations that are currently
known to be threatened or endangered, largely
as a consequence of human activities. Can we, for
example, continue to permit legal international
trade in elephant ivory when we know that
poaching compromises elephant populations
throughout much of their range and especially in
central and West Africa, where the little known
and threatened forest elephants live?
AFRICAN SAVANNA ELEPHANT
© IFAW/D. Willetts/Tsavo East National Park, Kenya
FOREST ELEPHANT
© IFAW/MDDEFE/Odzala-Kokoua, Republic of the Congo
ASIAN ELEPHANT
© IFAW/C. Dafan/Nuo Zhadu, Pu’er, Yunnan province, China
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