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

Family ELEPHANTIDAE Gray, 1821

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

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 ), 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 ). A taxonomic reassessment of African elephants is urgently needed in West Africa, even for a sound conservation strategy.

Figures

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

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