Elephant facts: 14 things to know about African elephants

By Scott · October 30, 2026 · From our 3-week Kenya safari

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14 elephant facts

1. They're the largest land animals on Earth. African savanna elephants are the biggest. Adult bulls commonly weigh around 5,000 to 6,000 kg and stand over 3 meters at the shoulder. Females are noticeably smaller.
2. There are three living species. The African savanna elephant, the African forest elephant and the Asian elephant. The elephants you see on a Kenya safari are savanna elephants.
3. Both African species are threatened. Since 2021 the IUCN Red List has classed the African savanna elephant as Endangered and the forest elephant as Critically Endangered, mainly because of poaching and habitat loss.
4. Families are run by the oldest female. A herd is a group of related females and their young, led by a matriarch. Her memory of water sources, routes and danger helps the whole family survive droughts.
5. Males leave home. Young bulls usually drift away from their birth family in their teens and spend time alone or in loose bachelor groups.
6. Pregnancy lasts about 22 months. That's the longest of any mammal. A newborn calf weighs roughly 100 to 120 kg and can stand within an hour or so.
7. Calves are raised by the whole family. Older sisters and aunts help guard, guide and comfort the youngest calves.
8. The trunk is a nose and an upper lip. It has no bones and tens of thousands of muscle units. Elephants use it to breathe, smell, drink, grab food, greet each other and spray dust or water.
9. They drink with their trunks, but not through them. An elephant sucks water partway up its trunk, then squirts it into its mouth.
10. Tusks are teeth. They're elongated incisors that keep growing through life. Elephants use them to dig, strip bark and defend themselves. Most elephants favor one tusk, a bit like being left- or right-handed.
11. They eat a huge amount. An adult can spend most of the day feeding and eat well over 100 kg of grass, leaves, bark and fruit.
12. Big ears are air conditioners. African elephants flap their ears to cool the blood running through them. A bull spreading his ears wide at you is also a warning.
13. They talk in sounds you can't hear. Much of their communication is low-frequency rumbles that can travel several kilometers, and they may pick up some vibrations through their feet.
14. They react to their dead. Elephants often stop at the bones of other elephants and touch them with their trunks and feet. Researchers still debate what it means, but it's one of the most striking things in the animal world.

Elephant family life up close

The thing I didn't expect on our trip was how much elephants behave like a family you'd recognize. In the Maasai Mara we watched a herd move across the plains in a loose line, with the matriarch out front and the smallest calves tucked between the adults' legs. When the group stopped, the youngsters wandered and played, and an older female would rumble or nudge one back into place.

It helps to know how to read a herd's mood, and a good guide like ours, Polycarp, watches it closely. Relaxed elephants feed, flick their ears slowly and ignore you. Head shaking, ears spread wide, a raised trunk or a mock charge mean you're too close, and a good guide backs off right away. We also saw elephants in Laikipia, where the herds move between conservancies and private land.

Why Tsavo's elephants are red

If you visit Tsavo, the first elephants you see may look like a different animal. They're the same savanna elephants, coated in Tsavo's red, iron-rich soil. Elephants dust-bathe and wallow to protect their skin from sun and biting insects, and in Tsavo that leaves them a rusty orange color. After a rain or a swim they turn gray again.

Tsavo East and Tsavo West together make up one of Kenya's largest protected areas, and the wider Tsavo ecosystem holds Kenya's biggest elephant population. We spent time in Tsavo West, including Mzima Springs, and the red elephants against the green bush and black lava rock are one of my favorite memories of the whole trip.

Kenya's most recent national wildlife census, released in late 2025, reported that elephant numbers had grown since the previous count. That's good news, but elephants still face poaching, drought and conflict with farmers as people and herds compete for land and water.

Visiting the elephant orphanage in Nairobi

One of the best mornings of our trip was at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust's elephant nursery inside Nairobi National Park. The Trust rescues orphaned calves, many of them victims of poaching, drought or human conflict, and raises them until they can return to the wild, often in Tsavo.

During the public visit, keepers bring the young elephants out for their milk feed and mud bath while explaining each calf's story. Watching the little ones push each other into the mud and race for their bottles is pure joy, and hearing how many were found alone puts the whole safari in perspective.

Practical details, based on the Trust's visitor page at the time of writing (check before you go, since they can change):

• The public visit runs daily from 11am to 12 noon, except Christmas Day. Arrive early, because it doesn't start late for latecomers.
• You must book ahead by email. Same-day visits aren't possible, and bookings through third-party ticket sites aren't accepted.
• The entry donation is paid in cash on arrival, and you also pay Kenya Wildlife Service park entry fees for Nairobi National Park separately.

It fits easily into an arrival or departure day in Nairobi. Ask your operator to build it into the itinerary so the timing works with your flights.

Where to see elephants in Kenya

• Amboseli: famous for big-tusked elephants with Kilimanjaro in the background.
• Tsavo East and West: the red elephants and the largest population in the country.
• Maasai Mara: family herds on open grassland, easy to watch for long stretches.
• Laikipia and Samburu: drier northern country where herds move between conservancies.

For more on timing your trip around the best game viewing, see our guide to the best time to visit Kenya for safari, and read about the rest of the Big Five in Kenya. If you'd like help putting an elephant-heavy route together, a specialist such as Go2Africa (opens in a new tab) or a multi-day tour on TourRadar (opens in a new tab) can link Tsavo, Amboseli and the Mara. You can compare more options on our safari planning page.

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