[38], While feeding, the African elephant uses its trunk to pluck leaves and its tusk to tear at branches, which can cause enormous damage to foliage. Both are herbivores and live in groups. Another special feature of this creature is their ears are like African continent. Additionally, Sumatran elephants are only found in Sumatra and they mainly live in forests. The gestation period of these giants are in between 630 to 690 days and the interbirth interval is between 3 to 5 years. [24] Fermentation of the food takes place in the hindgut, thus enabling large food intakes. Their thickset bodies rest on stocky legs. [7] Later authors considered it to be a subspecies. In most cases, elephants move to new habitats in search of adequate food and supplies. [25], The African bush elephant is the largest terrestrial animal. The carrying capacity of remaining suitable habitats was estimated at 8,985,000 elephants at most by 1987. The African bush elephant can be found in habitats as diverse as dry savannahs, deserts, marshes, and lake shores, and in elevations from sea level to mountain areas above the snow line. [20], Sequence analysis of DNA from fossils of the extinct Eurasian Palaeoloxodon antiquus shows it to be much closer related to the African forest elephant than to the African bush elephant. Elephants – fairly calm and friendly animals, fights and quarrels between elephants – a rare phenomenon. [22] Elephants have four molars; each weighs about 5 kg (11 lb) and measures about 30 cm (12 in) long. Most elephants in Africa live in game parks and national parks where they are well protected, especially against poaching, in order to help increase their dwindling population. Decrease of suitable habitat was the major cause for the decline of elephant populations until the 1950s. The Asian elephant is an endangered species of elephant that resides in Southeast Asia. Elephants are among the largest animals in the world. Between 1976 and 1980, about 830 t (820 long tons; 910 short tons) raw ivory was exported from Africa to Hong Kong and Japan, equivalent to tusks of about 222,000 African elephants. ", "The ivory trade and elephant conservation", "Le braconnage et la population d'éléphants au Parc National de Zakouma (Tchad)", "Tanzania elephant population declined by 60% in five years, census reveals", "Elephants Dying in Epic Frenzy as Ivory Fuels Wars and Profits", "Poaching behind worst African elephant losses in 25 years", "China and US agree on ivory ban in bid to end illegal trade globally", "Elephants still at risk with Laos replacing China as ivory market", "Status and trends of the ivory trade in Africa, 1989–1999", "African Elephant Specialist Group report", "Near-total ban imposed on sending wild African elephants to zoos", "383.