Young African Forest Elephant Drinking
Congo, Africa
The African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) is a species native to tropical rainforests in West Africa and the Congo Basin. Formerly considered to be a subspecies of the African bush elephant, morphological and DNA analysis showed that they are two distinct species. The forest elephant is generally reclusive, shy and skittish, preferring to use the dense forest habitat for cover. They are less social than the bush elephants and may become more easily spooked outside of their familiar environment.
Elephants drink by sucking water into their trunks and then squirting it into their mouths. An adult trunk can hold up to 14 liters of water at a time. Baby elephants may initially drink directly with their mouths until 6-9 months of age before they learn to use their trunks effectively. This young elephant in the Congo was content drinking while keeping an eye on us, however, once it realized the rest of the herd had gone back into the forest it abruptly scampered away to follow.
Photo © copyright by Dr. Edward Mikol.
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