It was once thought that there were two subspecies of African elephant, but recent research has meant they have been reclassified as two separate species - forest elephants and savannah elephants.

Subspecies
The pygmy elephant (L.c.pumilio) is a subspecies of the forest elephant found from Sierra Leone to DRC.

Life span
African elephants live for 55-60 years, although in captivity they can live for up to 80 years.

Statistics
Head-body length: 6-7.5m (male), females are 0.6m shorter. Tail length: 1-1.3m. Shoulder height: 3-3.4m (male), 2.7m (female). Weight: 6 tonnes (male), 3 tonnes (female).

Physical Description
Forest elephants have straighter tusks and more rounded ears than savannah elephants. They have five toes on the forefeet and four toes on the hindfeet, which is the same as in Asian elephants. African elephants have larger ears and tusks than Asian elephants. Females are smaller and have shorter tusks than males. The skin is grey, with a little covering of hair.

Distribution
Central and West Africa.

Habitat
Dense lowland jungle.

Diet
African elephants eat bark, fruit, grass and leaves. They will push down trees to eat from them. Water is essential and they can consume up to 50 gallons a day.

Behaviour
Forest elephants live in much smaller groups than the large herds of Savannah Elephants. Generally males are solitary and females stay with one or two of their offspring.

They keep in contact with each other in the forest using calls too low for humans to hear. These calls are able to travel through even thick vegetation for several kilometres.

Forest elephants come together in large numbers in clearings in the forest known as "bais". At the bais they dig down in the soil with their trunks and tusks to get at mineral salts missing from their normal diet.

They have a huge impact on their habitat. Generations of forest elephants have created a network of trails throughout the African rainforest linking their favourite fruit trees.

Reproduction
There is no breeding season. Females breed every four years and are only receptive for between 3-6 days, so bulls in musth need to be alert to the location of receptive females. They listen for the females tummy-rumbles that can be heard from many kilometres.

When mating takes place, the entire family takes part in a noisy melee known as the mating pandemonium, during which they rush about in an agitated state and trumpet loudly.

The gestation period is 22 months long. Females remain fertile for up to sixty years.

Conservation status
The Forest elephant is classified as Endangered by the 2000 IUCN Red List. They have been hunted to the brink of extinction for their ivory. Pressure on the ivory trade and improved protection from poachers has helped to restore numbers in some areas.

Controlled culling in reserves is sometimes necessary when overpopulation causes habitat loss, but efforts have been made to secure larger reserves. These include areas stretching across migratory routes.