What features make the forest elephant a completely different species than the African elephant?
In the past few years, scientists have recognized the forest elephant as a completely separate species from the African elephant—it’s not even considered a subspecies. The forest elephant is actually smaller than the African elephant, and not as tall. In fact, the two species differ greatly in regards to ear shape and social groups. The ears of the forest elephant are much rounder than those of the African elephant and the forest elephant has five toes on the front feet and four toes on the back feet—same as the Asian elephant. The forest elephant also lives in much smaller groups than the African elephant, making their socialization patterns and behavior different from each other. Image from www.elephant.se • Are forest elephants targeted by poachers? Yes, even more than the African elephant. With a pinkish hue and thick density, the ivory of forest elephants is much more prized that that of the African elephant. They are often poached and hunted for their unique and rare pink ivory,
