Class: Mammalia

Order: Proboscidae

Family: Elephantidae

Genus species: Loxodonta (slanting tooth) africana (from Africa)

Size: 3 to 4 m (10 - 13 ft.) tall at shoulder; 6 to 7.25 m long (20 - 24 ft.)

Weight: 3200 to 6400 kg (7000 - 14000 lb.), females are smaller

Description: largest of all land mammals, with large ears, a long trunk, and large tusk

Life Span: up to 70 years

Gestation: 22 to 24 months

Sexual Maturity:  females (cows) 10 to 11 years, males (bulls) 10 to 20 years

Habitat: found in the forests, grasslands, marshes, scrub, and semi-desert areas of sub-Saharan Africa.  There is a distinct sub-species, the forest elephant, found in the tropical forests of central Africa.

Diet: herbivore that eats all types of vegetation such as grasses, leaves, fruits, and bark

Status: listed by USFWS as threatened and protected by CITES