Elephants are large land mammals, which can be divided into three species: the African Bush Elephant, the African Forest Elephant and the Asian Elephant and are of the order Proboscidea and the family Elephantidae. There are three living species: the African Bush Elephant, the African Forest Elephant and the Asian or Indian Elephant.

African elephants are other than Asian elephants: Their ears are much larger; the animals are larger and have concave backs. Furthermore, the elephants are less hairy than their Asian relative. An elephant typically lives for 50 to 70 years; it can reach a body weight of up to 12,000 kg and lives in a structured social order. The females spend their entire live in family groups made up of mothers, daughters, sisters and aunts. The oldest female or matriarch leads the group, while adult males live mostly solitary lives.

There are currently between 470,000 and 690,000 African elephants living in the wild. By far the largest populations have been found in Southern and Eastern Africa.