Desert Adapted Elephants in Damaraland - Namibia.
The desert elephants of Namibia’s Kunene Region are a distinctive population adapted to life in an extremely arid environment. They are one of only two populations of “desert” elephants in the world (the other is in Mali, North Africa) and have a number of notable physical and behavioral differences. There has been some speculation that desert elephants are a separate subspecies, but the movement of bull elephants between savannah areas like Etosha, and the desert, suggests that there is sufficient genetic exchange that they are not a unique subspecies. However, Namibia’s desert elephants are unusual in some of their learned behaviors, such as long-distance migration, that allow them to survive in this difficult environment.
They have adapted to their dry, semi-desert environment by having a smaller body mass with proportionally longer legs and seemingly larger feet than other elephants.
Desert Adapted Elephants in Damaraland - Namibia.
The desert elephants of Namibia’s Kunene Region are a distinctive population adapted to life in an extremely arid environment. They are one of only two populations of “desert” elephants in the world (the other is in Mali, North Africa) and have a number of notable physical and behavioral differences. There has been some speculation that desert elephants are a separate subspecies, but the movement of bull elephants between savannah areas like Etosha, and the desert, suggests that there is sufficient genetic exchange that they are not a unique subspecies. However, Namibia’s desert elephants are unusual in some of their learned behaviors, such as long-distance migration, that allow them to survive in this difficult environment.
They have adapted to their dry, semi-desert environment by having a smaller body mass with proportionally longer legs and seemingly larger feet than other elephants.