African elephant
Loxodonta africana
Tembo (Swahili)
Conservation status
Endangered. The species is at risk from hunting and poaching for ivory, as well as from habitat loss due to agriculture, urban development and road transport.
Habitat
Semi-desert areas, savannahs, wetlands, forests
Biology
Elephant cows live with their offspring in family groups or herds, while adult bulls usually live separately from the females; they only come together during the mating season. Elephants are intelligent and employ tools – for example, they use branches for swatting flies. They also have a complex system of communication.
Dermoplastic exhibit
1935
The dermoplastic elephant bull was too large to be transported via the stairs. It was hoisted through the still-open side walls of the museum then under construction at the current site.
Provenance
15 September 1923, Meru Forest, 1 bull, Kenya, Bernard von Wattenwyl