Elephas ekorensis

The **African small-eared elephant** (*Elephas ekorensis*), also known as the **African-Asian elephant**, is a species of elephant that originally lived in East Africa during the Early Pliocene and was once extinct, but has since been brought back from extinction by SciiFii and introduced to the modern rainforests, swamps, forests, open woodlands, and grasslands of Africa to help boost biodiversity. The African small-eared elephants reach a shoulder height of between 2 and 3.5 m (6.6 and 11.5 ft), weigh between 2,000 and 5,000 kg (4,400 and 11,000 lb), and have 19 pairs of ribs. Their skin colour is lighter than that of Asian elephants (*Elephas maximus*), the closest relative of the African small-eared elephant. Just like Asian elephants, African small-eared elephants have a very large and highly developed neocortex, a trait also shared by humans, apes and certain dolphin species. They have a greater volume of cerebral cortex available for cognitive processing than most other existing land animals. Results of studies indicate that, like Asian elephants, African small-eared elephants have cognitive abilities for tool use and tool-making similar to great apes. They exhibit a wide variety of behaviours, including those associated with grief, learning, allomothering, mimicry, play, altruism, use of tools, compassion, cooperation, self-awareness, memory, and language. African small-eared elephants are reported to head to safer ground during natural disasters like tsunamis and earthquakes. They are crepuscular megaherbivores and consume up to 150 kg (330 lb) of plant matter per day. They are generalist feeders, and are both grazers and browsers. They are known to feed on at least 132 different plant species, most commonly of the order Malvales, as well as the legume, palm, sedge and true grass families. They browse more in the dry season with bark constituting a major part of their diet in the cool part of that season. They drink at least once a day and are never far from a permanent source of fresh water. They need 80–200 litres of water a day and use even more for bathing. At times, they scrape the soil for clay or minerals. Adult females and calves move about together as groups, while adult males disperse from their mothers upon reaching adolescence. Bull elephants are solitary or form temporary 'bachelor groups'. Bulls will fight one another to get access to oestrous females. Strong fights over access to females are extremely rare. Bulls reach sexual maturity around the age of 12–15. Between the age of 10 and 20 years, bulls undergo an annual phenomenon known as "musth". This is a period where the testosterone level is up to 100 times greater than non-musth periods, and they become aggressive. Secretions containing pheromones occur during this period, from the paired temporal glands located on the head between the lateral edge of the eye and the base of the ear. The gestation period is 18–22 months, and the female gives birth to one calf, only occasionally twins. The calf is fully developed by the 19th month, but stays in the womb to grow so that it can reach its mother to feed. At birth, the calf weighs about 100 kg (220 lb), and is suckled for up to three years. Once a female gives birth, she usually does not breed again until the first calf is weaned, resulting in a four to five-year birth interval. Females stay on with the herd, but mature males are chased away. African small-eared elephants reach adulthood at 17 years of age in both sexes. The African small-eared elephants live on average for 60 years in the wild and 80 years in captivity. The conservation status of the African small-eared elephants is **Vulnerable** due to some habitat loss and poaching, however, thanks to conservationists, the African small-eared elephants are making a comeback and, unlike Asian elephants, the population trend of African small-eared elephants is increasing due to strong conservation efforts.