Group composition and diet of forest elephants, Loxodonta africana cyclotis Matschie 1900, in the Lope Reserve, Gabon

Citation

White L, Tutin CEG & Fernandez M (1993) Group composition and diet of forest elephants, Loxodonta africana cyclotis Matschie 1900, in the Lope Reserve, Gabon. African Journal of Ecology, 31 (3), pp. 181-199. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2028.1993.tb00532.x

Abstract
Forest elephants (Loxodonta africana cyclotis Matschie 1900) were observed opportunistically over a period of seven years between 1984 and 1991 in lowland rain forest in the Lopé Reserve, Gabon. Details of their group structure and diet are reported. Adult females were generally encountered accompanied by one or more offspring, and adult males were generally solitary. Mean group size was 2.8 individuals, and the mean size of a ‘Family Unit' was 3.5 individuals. Associations of more than eight elephants were exceptional. Group sizes of elephants at Lopé were smaller than those recorded for savanna elephants in east Africa and those of Asian elephants living in Malaysian rain forest. The diet of elephants at Lopé was diverse, including a minimum of 307 items. The bulk of the diet, in terms of number of species and quantities eaten, came from leaves and bark (70% of all items recorded). Trees represented 73% of the species fed upon. In contrast to savanna-living populations, fruit was an important part of the diet. Fruit of at least 72 species is eaten and the remains of at least one species of fruit was found in 82% of 311 fresh dung piles searched over a one-year period.

Keywords
diet; forest elephant; fruit; group composition

Journal
African Journal of Ecology: Volume 31, Issue 3