Description
Forest elephants gather at clearings, which unfortunately makes them susceptible to ambush by poachers. Credit: Richard Ruggiero/USFWS
Date 25 January 2011, 16:32
Source Forest elephant group 6 http://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwshq/6841414150/
Author U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Forest_elephant_group_6_(6841414150).jpg

The African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) is a forest-dwelling species of elephant found in the Congo Basin. It is the smallest of the three extant species of elephant, but still the third-largest living terrestrial animal. The African forest elephant and the African bush elephant, Loxodonta africana, were considered to be one species until genetic studies indicated that they separated an estimated 2–7 million years ago. Order: Proboscidea, Family: Elephantidae, Genus: Loxodonta, Species: Loxodonta cyclotis (Matschie, 1900).