African Elephant - Loxodonta africana

Namibia and the Etosha National Park offer excellent elephant viewing. The number of elephants in Etosha park is around 2000. The tasks of elephants in Etosha which are actually two upper front teeth do not attain significant lengths mostly attributable to mineral deficiency. Another reason is that elephants use the tasks for digging up a roots and breaking the tips of tasks in process. The Etosha elephants are regarded as tallest in Africa.

Desert-dwelling elephants in the north-western part of Namibia are special for several reasons. They are one group of only two known populations of desert-dwelling elephants in the world. The other group is in Mali. They are uniquely adopted to extremely dry and sandy conditions - they have a smaller bodies and larger feet than other elephants. By the 1980's most of 3000 elephants that lived in Namibia's Kunene Region were killed by hunters and poachers. Because of measures that were taken to protect desert elephants their population is approximately 600 at the moment.
Their diet is varied and changes from wet to dry seasons. Most popular species include Commiphora, Mopane tree, Ana tree.
All potential visitors to areas where desert elephants can be found have to remember that these animals have poor eyesight but good hearing and smell. Elephants can also move very fast.

The African elephant is the largest living land animal and weighs up to 5,400 kg. It inhabits the Savannah, brush, forest, river valleys, and semi-desert regions of Africa south of the Sahara Desert. Besides its greater size, it differs from the Asian elephant in having larger ears and tusks, a sloping forehead, and two “fingers” at the tip of its trunk, compared to only one in the Asian species.
As vegetarians, elephants require much food, sometimes consuming more than 225 kg of plant matter a day. Their trunk is employed to pull branches off trees, uproot grass, pluck fruit, and to place food in their mouths. The trunk is also used for smell, touch and in drinking, greeting or throwing dust for dust baths. In both sexes, the two incisor teeth of the upper jaw grow to form tusks, and it is for this ivory, used at one time in the manufacture of piano keys, billiard balls, and other objects, that hunters have slaughtered thousands of these magnificent animals.

Lodges and Camps in Namibia: Beach Lodge - Casa Piccolo - Mahangu Safari Lodge - Mazambala - Oase Guest House - Phantom Farmhouse - The Desert Homestead

Botswana Destinations: Chobe National Park

Zimbabwe Destinations: Victoria Falls

Animals of Namibia: African Wild Dog - African Elephant - Cheetah - Flamingos - Giraffe - Hartebeest - Hippo - Leopard - Lion - Red Lechwe - Roan Antelope - Sitatunga -Spotted Hyena - Springbok - Wildebeest - Zebra