1. The gentle giants of the African bush, Elephants can weight up to six tonnes and live upwards of 60 years. They are the world's largest land animals.

2. Male and female Elephants have very different social lives. Females spend their whole lives in a herd of related females (sisters, aunts, daughters, cousins); while males live solitary lives.

3. Each Elephant herd is strictly hierarchical, headed by an elder female called the matriarch.

4. Both male and female African Elephants have tusks, and are either left or right tusked, using one tusk predominantly.

5. Elephant calves - born after 22 months gestation - learn behaviour from observation rather than instinct and are cared for by several members of the herd.

6. At Sabi Sabi Elephant herds often frequent the waterhole in front of Bush Lodge, delighting guests who watch their antics from the comfort of the viewing decks.

More Sabi Sabi Wild Facts