The African Elephant (Loxodonta africana), specifically the African Bush Elephant, is a large African mammal. It is an adoptable animal in many Zoo Tycoon games.
Description[]
The African Elephant is the largest living terrestrial animal, males, or bulls, can reach a shoulder height of 3.20m (10.5ft) and weigh 6 tons on average. Females, or cows, are generally smaller, being 2.60m (8.6ft) tall and weighing 3 tons on average. The African elephant is larger than the Asian Elephant, with larger ears which they use to help keep cool and for communication and two finger-like extensions on their trunk, as opposed to the Asian elephant's one. The elephant's trunk contains over 40,000 muscles and is extremely sensitive to touch, allowing them to manipulate objects with a lot of precision. Typically, both males and females possess tusks, males having larger tusks than females. In some populations, females may be completely tuskless.
The African elephant lives across Sub-Saharan Africa in a variety of habitats, although it is typically found in wooded-savannah. Female elephants form large family-based herds lead by the oldest female, or matriarch. Males leave these herds upon adolescence and join bachelor herds, only rejoining the female herds during the breeding season. Elephants eat a variety of vegetation including grass, leaves and bark, and are known to be highly intelligent. Elephant populations have declined in the past due to poaching, though their numbers are slowly rising due to conservation efforts.
Zoo Tycoon[]
The African Elephant is an adoptable animal in Zoo Tycoon and is available in the base game. In Freeform mode, it is unlocked 9 in-game months in Freeform mode.
The African elephant is a Savannah animal, and also required dirt, sand, and a large amount of fresh water. Its favorite foliage are Baobab Trees though it also likes a variety of other savannah foliage, and even likes some aquatic foliage. African Elephants only use the Small and Large Elephant Shelters and use the Swinging Log toy.
The African elephant's biome requirements don't add up to 100%, meaning the player will be unable to maximize the African elephant's habitat suitability. Without going over the African elephant's foliage or rock requirements, and using their favorite foliage, the maximum habitat suitability the player can achieve is 91%. Using the Thorn Bush, which gives slightly more suitability due to being able to be placed in clusters, the player can reach a habitat suitability of 93%. Going over the rock limit however, the player can reach a maximum habitat suitability of 94%, while going over the foliage limit, using Thorn Bushes, the player can reach the highest achievable habitat suitability of 97%.
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The native habitat of the elephant is the open savannah of central and southern Africa. In the wild, elephants occupy a wide geographic range, often traveling many miles in a single day. In captivity, elephants need relatively large spaces in which to live and move about. The more elephants, the more space they need. Elephants are generally found in regions containing wide swaths of tall grasses broken by the occasional stands of acacias and the large African baobab tree, which the elephants like to use for shade. Areas of dirt and sand near waterholes form cool mud holes for the elephants to wallow in, and the occasional large rock provides a perfect scratching post for removing dried mud.
Elephants are herbivores, eating various grasses, hay, and even trees. They eat frequently, which is not surprising, given their enormous size. Their long, flexible trunks allow them to reach down to pull up tall grasses as well as to reach up to pull down tasty branches inaccessible even to a giraffe. In captivity, they are fed a variety of foods, including hay, browse (e.g., acacia, corn stalks, bamboo, mulberry, and ficus), apples, bananas, carrots, yams, bran, and herbivore pellets. Elephants are social animals. Although they are often found in groups of up to 25 individuals in the wild, keeping great numbers of elephants in a zoo setting would tax even the wealthiest of zoos. In captivity, groups of two to six individuals are more common. Elephants can quickly become upset when they don't have enough contact with others of their own kind. An angry or upset elephant will make its familiar loud trumpeting sound. Their highly social nature means that one angry elephant can quickly upset the rest of the herd. Elephants are hardy animals that don't often get sick. When they do, their strong constitutions enable them to weather the illness a relatively long time before it becomes life-threatening. Elephants reproduce poorly in captivity. As the largest land mammals in the world, elephants can afford to feel relatively safe in the wild, at least from other animals. In general, elephants only tolerate their own kind. While they have nothing to fear from even the largest predators, they still become very uneasy when placed in close proximity to these animals. Even non-predatory buffalo and rhinos can make elephants uncomfortable. |
Zoo Tycoon 2[]
The African Elephant is an adoptable animal in Zoo Tycoon 2 and is available in the base game. In Campaign and Challenge mode, it becomes available for purchase at a zoo fame of 4 stars.
The African Elephant is a herbivore and eats hay, grass, lettuce and branches. If the Dino Danger Pack or Extinct Animals expansion pack is installed, the African elephant can also eat cycad leaves. They will also eat Apple and Durian enrichment food.
The African elephant is a very entertaining animal, able to play with a variety of enrichment objects such as the Pursuit Ball, Holiday Present (Apple), Car Tire, Peanut Feeder, Elephant Enrichment Log and Easel. When playing with the Elephant Enrichment Log, the elephant will grab the object with its trunk and carry it around. The African elephant is one of only a few animals that can use the Easel, and will paint on it when needing stimulation. At random, the elephant may paint either colourful strokes or a peanut when using it.
African elephants can only use two different shelters, the Shade Structure, and the Elephant House, and are one of only two animals to use the Elephant House, the other being the Asian Elephant. If the player has African Adventure installed, the African elephant can form and travel in herds, oddly though the herd is coded to be lead by a male, instead of a female which would have been more accurate.
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The African elephant lives in grassy regions south of the Sahara Desert. Elephants are the largest land animals and are extremely strong and highly intelligent. They are also long-lived, with life spans of 60 years or more. Healthy, full-grown elephants have no natural enemies other than humans. Elephants also have no sweat glands, so they like to cool off by rolling in ponds and streams. The mud that dries on their skin protects them from the sun. |
Zoo Tycoon (Xbox)[]
The African Bush Elephant is an adoptable animal in Zoo Tycoon (Xbox) and is available in the base game. As this game was made after the recognition that the African Forest Elephant was a separate species, it is the first game in the series to refer to the species as the African Bush Elephant.
The African Bush Elephant is unlocked at a Fame Level of 3 and prefers savannah exhibits, though it can also be placed in the Grasslands, Outback, Temperate Forest and Tropical biomes. The African bush elephant is a social animal, requiring at least 3 elephants of any species to meet its social need, and is compatible with giraffes, antelopes, rhinoceroses as well as other elephants. The African bush elephant can use a variety of enrichment items, including Wading Pools, Activity Centers and Rope Toys. When interacting with a wading pool, the elephant will splash water over itself, drink the water and even sit in the Wading Pool, doing so will help fill their cleanliness need. If the player places a Feeding Interaction down, they can use it to feed their elephants, which will help fill the elephant's hunger need, the Hose Interaction on the other hand will contribute to the elephant's cleanliness need.
Other Games[]
Zoo Tycoon 2: Mobile[]
The African Elephant is an adoptable animal in the Java version of Zoo Tycoon 2: Mobile. It is the sixth animal the player can unlock in the versions of the game that have it.
The African Elephant is a Savannah biome animal that likes dirt, sand and water in its exhibit as well as the Thorn Bush and Small Rocks for decoration. The African Elephant's sprites also resemble those in Zoo Tycoon.
Gallery[]
Zoo Tycoon[]
Zoo Tycoon 2[]
Zoo Tycoon (Xbox)[]
Zoo Tycoon: mobile[]
Trivia[]
- In Zoo Tycoon 2, baby female African elephants use the male adoption icon instead of the female icon.
- In Zoo Tycoon 2, elephants are not able to socialize with other elephant species, meaning that if an African elephant is sharing an enclosure with a different elephant species, it will have no way to meet its social need.
- In Zoo Tycoon (Xbox) the African bush elephant will not gain any hunger need fulfilment from interacting with an Activity Center, despite being shown feeding from the enrichment item.
Zoo Tycoon DS animals | |
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Standard Animals | African Buffalo ā¢ African Elephant ā¢ African Lion ā¢ African Warthog ā¢ American Bighorn Sheep ā¢ American Bison ā¢ Arctic Wolf ā¢ Bengal Tiger ā¢ Black Bear ā¢ Black Leopard ā¢ Black Rhinoceros ā¢ California Sea Lion ā¢ Cheetah ā¢ Chimpanzee ā¢ Clouded Leopard ā¢ Common Wildebeest ā¢ Dromedary Camel ā¢ Emperor Penguin ā¢ Gemsbok ā¢ Giant Anteater ā¢ Giant Panda ā¢ Giraffe ā¢ Gray Wolf ā¢ Greater Flamingo ā¢ Grizzly Bear ā¢ Hippopotamus ā¢ Ibex ā¢ Jaguar ā¢ Leopard ā¢ Lowland Gorilla ā¢ Mandrill ā¢ Markhor ā¢ Moose ā¢ Okapi ā¢ Olive Baboon ā¢ Ostrich ā¢ Plains Zebra ā¢ Polar Bear ā¢ Red Kangaroo ā¢ Saltwater Crocodile ā¢ Siberian Tiger ā¢ Snow Leopard ā¢ Spotted Hyena ā¢ Thomson's Gazelle ā¢ White Bengal Tiger |
Unlockable Content | Asian Elephant ā¢ Kouprey ā¢ Onager ā¢ Orangutan ā¢ Unicorn |
Zoo Tycoon 2 DS animals | |
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Standard Animals | African Elephant ā¢ Black Panther ā¢ Black Rhinoceros ā¢ California Sea Lion ā¢ Cheetah ā¢ Chimpanzee ā¢ Dolphin ā¢ Dromedary Camel ā¢ Galapagos Giant Tortoise ā¢ Giant Sable Antelope ā¢ Gray Wolf ā¢ Greater Flamingo ā¢ Grizzly Bear ā¢ Komodo Dragon ā¢ Lion ā¢ Masai Giraffe ā¢ Moose ā¢ Nile Crocodile ā¢ Ostrich ā¢ Orangutan ā¢ Polar Bear ā¢ Pygmy Hippopotamus ā¢ Red Kangaroo ā¢ Spanish Lynx ā¢ Wolverine ā¢ Zebra |
Star Animals | American Beaver ā¢ Emperor Penguin ā¢ Giant Panda ā¢ Koala ā¢ Mountain Gorilla ā¢ Sea Otter |
Amazing Animals | Saber-toothed Tiger ā¢ Triceratops ā¢ Unicorn ā¢ Yeti |
Zoo Tycoon 2: Mobile animals | |
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Zoo Tycoon 2: Mobile | African Elephant ā¢ Bengal Tiger ā¢ Black Rhinoceros ā¢ Cheetah ā¢ Chimpanzee ā¢ Giant Panda ā¢ Giraffe ā¢ Lion ā¢ Lowland Gorilla |
Marine Mania Mobile | Bottlenose Dolphin ā¢ Giant Pacific Octopus ā¢ Great White Shark ā¢ Green Sea Turtle ā¢ Manta Ray ā¢ Orca ā¢ Rockhopper Penguin |