African Elephants (Loxodonta africana and L. cyclotis) Fact Sheet: Reproduction & Development

Sexual behavior/courtship

• Bulls sniff and taste urine of cows
• Males examine excretory products for the presence of sex pheromone
• Transfer a sample with their trunk to the vomeronasal organ on roof of their mouth
• Females alters behavior to signal males of reproductive receptivity
• Estrus females signal their location to bulls a few kilometers away with a series of loud, very low frequency calls
• Females exhibit a typical "estrous walk"; male display a characteristic "musth walk" (Sukumar 2003)
• Cow backs up to the bull allowing confirmation of estrus

Mate preference

• Females prefer large bulls, in their prime
• Bulls typically 40-50 years old

Bulls aggresive during musth

• A period of heightened sexual and aggressive activity in bulls
• Each male comes into musth at a specific time each year (varies from male to male)
  • Typically lasts 6-12 weeks, but year-long musth periods have been recorded
    • Secretions are produced from swollen temporal glands
    • Urine dribbles from greenish-appearing penis
    • Frequent mating calls are made
  • Bulls in the depths of musth are often anorexic
  • Although estrous females prefer large musth bulls in their prime they are frequently bad breeders because of over-aggressiveness

Year-round reproduction

• Matings and births occur throughout the year
  
• Reproduction may be associated with rainfall

Estrus cycle of cow is unusually long

• 13-16 weeks
• Luteal phase 9-12 weeks
• Follicular phase 3-5 weeks
• Ovulation lasts about 4 days

Gestation

• Averages 22 months

Birth

• Timing of parturition
• Most frequent during rains
• Litter size
• Usually one
• Twins are rare
• Neonate size and appearance
• Weight: 90-120 kg (198-265 lb)
• Height: 80-100 cm (2'8" - 3'3")
• Nearly blind
• Entirely dependent upon mother and family relatives

Interbirth interval

• 4-6 year calving interval is common
  
• May last 10 years

Reproductive Rate

• Lifetime reproductive output
• A female can produce 7 offspring in her life
• Oldest confirmed conception: 36 years
• Food availability and population density influence the frequency of birth

Infant (< 1 year old)

• Development
  • 1st three months spent developing motor skills
  • 3-4 months begin to feed on their own
  • Young elephants have deciduous tusks (tushes)
  • Tushes are replaced by permanent tusks between 6 months-1 year (Fowler 1993)
  • Weaning 2-3 years
    • Calf's nursing inhibits mother's estrus
  • Developmental patterns similar for both sexes until age 10

Adults

• Sexual maturity
  • Males
    • In the wild, males capable of reproduction c. 12-15 years though they typically do not breed until their mid to late 20s
    • First reproduce c. 7 years of age in managed care
  • Females
    • In the wild, 10-11 years in the wild
    • First reproduce c. 6 years of age in managed care
• Growth
  • Unlike other mammals elephants grow continuously
    • Female growth slows considerably after 25 years; c. 2,800 kg (6,173 lb)
    • Male growth slows by 50-60 years; c. 5,000 kg (11,023 lb)
• Value of old individuals
  • Older female matriarchs impart invaluable knowledge and survival skills to herd

Wild populations

• Life expectancy varies, depending on population, sex, amount of poaching pressure, etc.
• Typical life expectancy across regions needs more study, but likely about 30 to 40 years (e.g., Moss 2001; Lee et al. 2012; Lee, Fishlock, et al. 2016; see Lee, Lindsay, et al. 2011 for Life Tables)

Managed care

• See AZA's Species Survival Statistics

Survival rates

• Also see Threats to Survival for discussion of poaching and human–elephant conflict
• Protected vs. unprotected habitat areas
  • Deaths from “natural causes” (eg, starvation, dehydration) can be comparable to deaths from ivory poaching, if elephants not able to roam (ie, range is limited to a small protected area) to find enough food and water (esp. during drought conditions) (Mukeka et al. 2022)
• Male vs. female survival
  • Mortality for males generally higher across lifespan (Moss 2001; Poole et al. 2013; Wittemyer et al. 2021; Mukeka et al. 2022)
• Calf survival
  • More savanna elephant calves die from drought and predators, compared to forest elephants (Wittemyer et al. 2013; Turkalo et al. 2018)
    • Drought lowers survival for adult females and their calves (eg, Lee and Moss 1986; Lee et al. 2013)
      • Affects milk production/quality (Lee and Moss 1986; Shrader et al. 2010; Lee et al. 2013) and increases travel distances to find food/water, which may result in calves becoming lost or separated from their family (eg, Loveridge et al. 2006)
    • Orphaned calves experience lower survival rates, which can harm population growth/recovery (eg, Goldenberg and Wittemyer 2018; Parker et al. 2021)
      • Also see Orphaned calves
  • Turkalo et al. (2018) reported very high survival rates (97%) for 2-year-old calves at Dzanga Bai, a well-protected population of forest elephants (Turkalo et al. 2018)

Predation

• Predators of calves and juveniles
  • Savanna elephant
    • Lions (e.g., Loveridge et al. 2006; Power and Shem Compion 2009)
    • Spotted hyenas (Poole et al. 2013)
    • Leopards (Nowak 2018 citing Blake 2004)
  • Forest elephant
    • Not thought to have non-human predators, but rarely, possibly leopards (Turkalo and Barnes 2013)
• Predators of adults
  • Humans (Turkalo and Fay 1995)
    • See Threats to Survival

Diseases (non-comprehensive)

• Anthrax
  • Observed in wild savanna elephants but not forest elephants (Turkalo and Barnes 2013)
  • Can affect entire populations (Poole et al. 2013 citing Lindeque and Turnbull 1994)
    • A disease that might contribute (alongside other factors) to limiting excessive population growth (ie, too large for an ecosystem to support) (see Foley et al. 2024)
• Encephalomyocarditis virus (abbreviated EMCV) (Grobler 1995; Poole et al. 2013)
  • A potentially fatal viral infection in savanna elephant (Poole et al. 2013)
    • More than 60 elephants died in one outbreak in Kruger National Park (1993 to 1994) (Grobler 1995)
• “Floppy trunk syndrome” (Poole et al. 2013; Landolfi and Terrell 2018)
  • Observed in savanna elephants
  • Rare, progressive nervous system condition leading to total paralysis of the trunk
  • Affected individuals have difficulty drinking and eating, leading to poor condition and possibly death
  • Cause unknown; possibly a toxin or pollutant
• Bacterial infections that cause blood poisoning (Azeem et al. 2020; Foggin et al. 2023)
  • Transmission pathway(s) not yet known, but can cause mass mortality events (Foggin et al. 2023)
    • In 2020, 35 elephants died from a Pasteurella-like infection in Zimbabwe (Foggin et al. 2023)
  • An elephant’s immune system can be compromised by multiple stressors: drought, heat, malnutrition, dehydration, etc. (Fey et al. 2015; Foggin et al. 2023)
• Other notable diseases
  • Elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (abbreviated EEHV) and bovine tuberculosis (caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis) reported in wild populations—but rarely known to kill African elephants (Long et al. 2016; Miller et al. 2019; Miller et al. 2021; Kerr et al. 2023)
    • More research needed to better understand the health impacts on African elephants and potential for disease transmission within/among species (eg, Miller et al. 2019; Kerr et al. 2023; Rob Browning, personal communication, 2025)

Other causes of death (non-comprehensive)

• Drought and starvation
  • Starvation, rather than dehydration, appears to more commonly kill elephants during drought (Corfield 1973; Shrader et al. 2010; Wato et al. 2016)
    • May have access to water but not nutritious forage
    • Water also plays a role in metabolizing food/stored fat
  • Short-term drought
    • Does not usually harm elephant populations in places where elephants are abundant (Ndlovu et al. 2023)
      • But, can still kill many elephants or make population sizes less stable (Douglas-Hamilton and Wall 2009; Western and Mose 2023)
  • Persistent drought
    • Tends to impact young and very old savanna elephants the most (Dudley et al. 2001; Ndlovu et al. 2023)
    • Mukeka et al. (2022) report more frequent droughts beginning to cause more elephant deaths than poaching in Kenya
    • Projected to become more frequent in southern Africa, the region with the largest savanna elephant populations (Black et al. 2024)
  • Inability to chew
    • Very worn teeth make it difficult to eat, or very old individuals may no longer have tooth replacements (see Teeth) and die from malnutrition (Eltingham 1991)
• Injuries
  • Fights between bull males during musth (Hall-Martin 1987)
  • Accidental falls (Douglas-Hamilton and Wall 2009)
    • Calves, especially, may not be able to escape from slippery mud or water wells
  • Landmines (from human warfare) (Eniag et al. 2007)
  • Infections from gunshot wounds or other hunting methods (Poole and Granli 2022)
  • Snares
    • Cause limping, broken bones, joint dislocations, and infections (Poole and Granli 2022)

African elephant calf with family.

Image credit: © San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. All rights reserved.

African elephant calf.

Image credit: © San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. All rights reserved.

Eltringham (1992)
Estes (1991)
Estes (1993)
Fowler (1993)
Moss (2000)
Sukumar (2003)
ZIMS (2017)