mammal · NA

African Elephant

Loxodonta africana

Overview

Desert-adapted herds that survive on remembered water in some of the driest country in Africa.

They are not a separate species, and that is the remarkable part: these are ordinary African elephants doing an extraordinary thing, living in country that receives less rain in a year than a London April. Herds in the Kunene move along ephemeral rivers, the Hoanib, the Hoarusib, the Huab, that carry water above ground only a few days a year and hold it underground the rest. They dig for it, sinking wells in the dry sand with their feet and trunks, and every other thirsty animal in the valley drinks from what they open. What holds it together is memory. A matriarch of fifty carries a map of waterholes and lean-year routes that no younger animal has, which is why the loss of an old female costs a herd far more than one elephant. Watch the ears: spread and still, they are radiators; clamped back, you are too close.

Behaviour

Herds gather at waterholes in late afternoon; bulls often solitary.

Diet

Browsers and grazers; bark, grasses, marula and mopane.

Photography

Position downwind and low; the dry-season dust in raking light is the shot.

Ethics

Never block a movement corridor between water and cover.

Where you'll find them

Generalised encounter areas, not exact locations. Each shape is a grid cell coloured by how likely the species is there.

Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 24 records · updated 1 day ago
Very likely
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 5 records · updated 1 day ago
Very likely
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 7 records · updated 1 day ago
Very likely
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 18 records · updated 1 day ago
Very likely
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 6 records · updated 1 day ago
Very likely
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 14 records · updated 1 day ago
Very likely
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 6 records · updated 1 day ago
Very likely
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 13 records · updated 1 day ago
Very likely
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 12 records · updated 1 day ago
Very likely
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 11 records · updated 1 day ago
Very likely
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 5 records · updated 1 day ago
Very likely
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 8 records · updated 1 day ago
Very likely
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 8 records · updated 1 day ago
Likely
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 7 records · updated 1 day ago
Likely
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 7 records · updated 1 day ago
Likely
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 7 records · updated 1 day ago
Likely
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 7 records · updated 1 day ago
Likely
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 5 records · updated 1 day ago
Likely
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 6 records · updated 1 day ago
Likely
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 6 records · updated 1 day ago
Likely
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 6 records · updated 1 day ago
Likely
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 5 records · updated 1 day ago
Likely
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 5 records · updated 1 day ago
Likely
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 5 records · updated 1 day ago
Likely
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 5 records · updated 1 day ago
Possible
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 5 records · updated 1 day ago
Possible
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 4 records · updated 1 day ago
Possible
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 4 records · updated 1 day ago
Possible
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 4 records · updated 1 day ago
Possible
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 4 records · updated 1 day ago
Possible
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 4 records · updated 1 day ago
Possible
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 4 records · updated 1 day ago
Possible
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 3 records · updated 1 day ago
Possible
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 3 records · updated 1 day ago
Possible
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 3 records · updated 1 day ago
Possible
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 3 records · updated 1 day ago
Possible
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 3 records · updated 1 day ago
Possible
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 3 records · updated 1 day ago
Uncommon
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 3 records · updated 1 day ago
Uncommon
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 3 records · updated 1 day ago
Uncommon
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 3 records · updated 1 day ago
Uncommon
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 3 records · updated 1 day ago
Uncommon
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 3 records · updated 1 day ago
Uncommon
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 3 records · updated 1 day ago
Uncommon
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 3 records · updated 1 day ago
Uncommon
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 3 records · updated 1 day ago
Rare
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 3 records · updated 1 day ago
Rare
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 3 records · updated 1 day ago
Rare
Namibia
10 km zone · medium confidence · 3 records · updated 1 day ago
Rare

Similar species

mammalCR

Sensitive · location generalised

Black Rhinoceros

Diceros bicornis

Precise locations are withheld. Namibia holds a globally significant population.

Very likelyNA

mammalLC

Black-backed Jackal

Lupulella mesomelas

Persistent, clever, and heard yipping across the plains at dusk.

Very likelyNA

mammalNT

Brown Hyena

Parahyaena brunnea

Shaggy ghost of the Skeleton Coast, scavenging along the tide line.

Very likelyNA

mammalVU

Sensitive · location generalised

Cheetah

Acinonyx jubatus

Namibia holds the world's largest free-roaming cheetah population.

Very likelyNA