Maryland Zoo: African Savannah Elephant

The Maryland Zoo is home to four African Elephants.  Anna is our matriarch, Tuffy our bull, Felix is a diminutive female, and Samson is her 15 year-old son.  In 2017-18, we spent over 20 million dollars to support upgrades to their habitat more than doubling the available space.  On this visit, Tuffy was out in one of the nearer yards and a keeper invited him to the canopy to participate in a training session involving presenting his feet for inspection and allowing the keeper to examine his mouth.  The keeper is on the ground level just out of sight below the raised deck.

One of the distinguishing features between African Savannah Elephants and Asian Elephants is the both genders have tusks.  Only male Asian Elephants have them.  However, neither Tuffy nor Felix have tusks.  Neither has ever had them in all there time here at the Maryland Zoo.  I've never learned the exact reason why, and perhaps the keepers don't even know.  There is a very small percentage of African Savannah Elephants which are born without them.