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When we called elephants we gave a big clue as to where they live. The African elephant lives… in Africa. The asian elephant? Yes, in Asia. But where in Africa and Asia? What kind of habitat do these giants have? mammals to have? Do all elephants live in the same kind of habitat? Let’s take a look at the three elephant species and where they live.
Where do elephants live?
Until the end of the last ice age, elephant-like creatures roamed the vast Eurasian steppe and much of North America.
Today, however, elephants are restricted to temperate regions in both Africa and Asia. Africa is home to two different species of elephants. The African forest elephant lives across savannas and plains while the African forest elephant lives in rainforests and other forested areas with high vegetation.
Likewise, the Asian elephant also usually lives in areas with more vegetation. Its range extends from India to the islands of Indonesia. Let’s take a look at the habitat of all three elephant species.
Where does the African forest elephant live?
There are two types of elephants that live in Africa, the African bush and the African forest elephant. The African forest elephant lives in sub-Saharan Africa in countries such as Zimbabwe, Kenya, and South Sudan, but is native to 37 different African countries. They can live in forested savannas, grasslands and even semi-desert areas. A savanna is a large open grassland with small trees everywhere. Think of the set of the lion king! The Serengeti is the most famous savanna area.
Elephants need a large area to forage for food and water. They spend most of their days roaming in search of grasses, bark, roots and fruit. Each elephant should consume about 300 lbs of food per day! They also need to find water sources to needed 30-50 gallons a day.
As people develop more areas, the land available for elephants and other wildlife shrinks and it becomes increasingly difficult to sustain the large numbers of elephants that used to roam the earth. All three elephant species are now on the endangered species list by the IUCN.
The African Forest Elephant
The African forest elephant lives in the rainforests of Central and West Africa along the equator and most of them live in Gabon. Unlike the wide-open savanna, the rainforests are dense and full of trees and vegetation. This makes it difficult for researchers to count them. The staple diet of forest elephants is fruit, so they have to forage throughout the day to find enough fruit to support themselves. They also eat leaves, grass and tree bark.
The Asian Elephant
The Asian elephant lives in Southeast Asia. There are three subspecies of Asian elephants classified by where they live; the Sri Lankan elephant, Indian elephant and Sumatran elephant. Elephants also live in Borneo, the Bornean elephant, but researchers are not yet in agreement whether it is actually a separate subspecies.
- The Indian Elephant: While these elephants used to roam all over India, they are now confined to 29 different sanctuaries in India. They are highly protected by the Wildlife Protection Act. Their habitat is dense forests where they can feed on their staple food of grasses, but if they can find it, they will enjoy bananas and sugar cane.
- The Sri Lankan Elephant: Sri Lanka is a large island off the southern tip of India. Most of the elephants on this island are found in the drier but forested areas.
- The Sumatran Elephant: Sumatran elephant numbers are critically low. They also live in the habitat of tropical forests where they forage for food.
- The Bornean Elephant: Borneo is an island just east of Indonesia. These elephants are the smallest of the Asian elephants and are sometimes referred to as Borneo pygmy elephants. They live in forest areas and eat grass, roots, leaves and bananas.
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