# African bush elephant (*Loxodonta africana*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-bush-elephant  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana) is a species in the family Elephantidae, order Proboscidea. It has been recorded in 47 countries, most often in South Africa, Benin and Kenya. Its IUCN Red List status is Endangered.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | Not recorded |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | Not recorded |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | Not recorded |
| Gestation | 670 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | Not recorded |
| Conservation status | Endangered (IUCN) |
| Recorded in | 47 countries |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Mammalia
- order: Proboscidea
- family: Elephantidae
- genus: Loxodonta
- species: *Loxodonta africana* (Blumenbach, 1797)

Synonyms: *Elephas africana*, *Elephas capensis*

## Where it has been recorded

Countries with openly licensed sighting records on GBIF (records in brackets). Recorded sightings, not a definitive range.

South Africa (1748), Benin (1498), Kenya (1480), Zambia (1231), Uganda (609), Tanzania (591), Namibia (428), Botswana (388), Zimbabwe (217), Congo - Kinshasa (75), Malawi (58), Cameroon (48), Liberia (46), Côte d’Ivoire (31), Sudan (28), China (23), Ghana (23), Equatorial Guinea (23), Burkina Faso (22), Mozambique (15), Germany (12), Rwanda (12), Angola (11), Ethiopia (11), Gabon (10), United States (10), Italy (9), Portugal (9), Chad (8), Eswatini (7), Central African Republic (6), Congo - Brazzaville (6), Sierra Leone (5), Poland (4), Hungary (3), Niger (3), Nigeria (3), Netherlands (3), South Sudan (3), Denmark (2), Guinea (2), Sweden (2), Tunisia (2), Egypt (1), United Kingdom (1), Mali (1), Somalia (1)

## Common questions

### Where does the African bush elephant live?

The African bush elephant has openly licensed sighting records from 47 countries on GBIF. The most records come from South Africa, Benin, Kenya, Zambia and Uganda. These are recorded sightings, not a definitive range.

### Is the African bush elephant endangered?

The African bush elephant is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

### How long is the African bush elephant pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 670 days.

### What kind of animal is the African bush elephant?

The African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana) belongs to the family Elephantidae in the order Proboscidea.

## Sources

- [GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/dataset/d7dddbf4-2cf0-4f39-9b2a-bb099caae36c), CC BY 4.0, live API 2026-11-11. GBIF Secretariat. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org.
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/), CC0 1.0, live API 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata, the free knowledge base.
- [GBIF occurrence aggregates (CC0 and CC BY records only)](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search), CC BY 4.0, live API 2026-11-11. GBIF.org occurrence search, country facet counts restricted to CC0 1.0 and CC BY 4.0 records.
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/), Per file, live API 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Licence and creator recorded per file.
- [English Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/), CC BY-SA 4.0, live API 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.

Cite as: African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/african-bush-elephant