ELEPHANTIDAE Gray, 1821

Amori, Giovanni, Segniagbeto, Gabriel Hoinsoude, Decher, Jan, Assou, Delagnon, Gippoliti, Spartaco & Luiselli, Luca, 2016, Non-marine mammals of Togo (West Africa): an annotated checklist, Zoosystema 38 (2), pp. 201-244 : 224-225

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.5252/z2016n2a3

publication LSID

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:059171D0-809D-47F5-9030-669522C36E69

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03B8879E-F307-382D-06F8-F8BFC7C3C2BD

treatment provided by

Marcus (2021-08-30 10:23:39, last updated by Plazi 2023-11-05 23:02:14)

scientific name

ELEPHANTIDAE Gray, 1821
status

 

Family ELEPHANTIDAE Gray, 1821 View in CoL

Loxodonta africana (Blumenbach, 1797) ▶ ( Figs 23 View FIG ; 24 View FIG )

HISTORICAL LITERATURE. — This species was first documented in Togo by Matschie (1893a, b).

VOUCHERS. — Five ZMB vouchers originated from Taberna, Sokodé and Misahohe.

ORIGINAL DATA. — Four populations occur in Togo. The species occurs in Togo in 5.032 km 2, that is 3% of the West African range ( Mallon et al. 2015). Elephant populations are certainly present in Fazao Malkafassa and Oti-Keran forests ( Atsri et al. 2013, Segniagbeto et al. 2014b, 2015b). The annual migration of a group of elephants is usually observed between the West African complex of protected areas (W, Arly and Pendjari Park: WAP) and the complex of protected areas in Togo (Oti-Mandouri and Oti-Keran).

REMARKS

Although two species are in some instances accepted; Loxodonta africana and Loxodonta cyclotis (Matschie, 1900) ( Grubb et al. 2000; Rocha et al. 2001), taxonomy of West African elephants is currently not yet resolved. Most Togolese elephants show intermediate morphological characteristics between savannah and forest elephants ( Fig. 23 View FIG ), but true forest elephants are also said to occur in the country and some have been exported to zoos abroad (i.e. three elephants to a Tunisian zoo; Fig. 24 View FIG ). A taxonomic reassessment of African elephants is urgently needed in West Africa, even for a sound conservation strategy.

ATSRI H., ADJOSSOU K., TAGBI K., TCHANI W., SEGLA K., TEBONOU G., ADJONOU K., ABOUDOU M., KOUDANOU M., AGBETI M, BANLA T. & KOMBATE Y. 2013. - Inventaire faunique et forestier, etude ecologique et caracteristique du parc national de Fazao Malfakassa. Rapport FFW / MERF Togo, 96 p.

GRUBB P., GROVES C. P., DUDLEY J. P. & SHOSHANI J. 2000. - Living African elephants belong to two species: Loxodonta africana (Blumenbach, 1797) and Loxodonta cyclotis (Matschie, 1900). Elephant 2: 1 - 4.

MALLON D. P., HOFFMANN M., GRAINGER M. J., HIBERT F., VAN VLIET N. & MCGOWAN P. J. K. 2015. - An IUCN Situation Analysis of Terrestrial and Freshwater Fauna in West and Central Africa. Occasional Paper of the IUCN Species Survival Commission No. 54. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN. x + 162 p.

MATSCHIE P. 1893 a. - Beitrage zur Fauna des Togolandes. Mittteilungen von Forschungsreisen und Gelehrten aus den Deutschen Schutzgebieten 6 (3): 1 - 21.

SEGNIAGBETO G. H., ASSOU D. & AKOUDEWOU A. 2014 b. - Dignostic sur le prelevement des gibiers dans les zones peripheriques du parc national de l'Oti-Keran. Rapport du projet ONG AGBO- ZEGUE & UICN-PACO, 28 p.

SEGNIAGBETO G. H., ASSOU D., KOUDZO K. K. & AKOUDEWOU A. 2015 b. - Contribution on the improvement of the primate status and distribution in Central and Southern Togo. Primates project AGBO-ZEGUE NGO & CI, 55 p.

Gallery Image

FIG. 23. — Elephants from the borders between Burkina Faso and Togo. Photograph: Emmanuel Hema.

Gallery Image

FIG. 24. — A forest elephant from Togo, exhibited at a Tunisian zoo. Photograph: Spartaco Gippoliti.

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Proboscidea

Family

Elephantidae

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Proboscidea

Family

Elephantidae

Genus

Loxodonta