The national animal of Mozambique is the African elephant. This is a term which in fact comprises two extant species: the African bush elephant and the African forest elephant. The bush elephant is the species that is to be found in Mozambique and so it is this which is the country’s national animal.
Elephants are doubtless one of the world’s most iconic animals, and naturally, this is amplified in nations to which they are native.
Mozambique has taken this to the level of making the African elephant their national animal, and unsurprisingly the elephant holds great significance to the people.
Let’s find out more.
What is the national animal of Mozambique?
The national animal of Mozambique is the African bush elephant.
There are, again, two extant species of African elephant which is itself a genus rather than a particular species, and the African forest elephant, the other species, is only found in western Africa today.
The bush elephant is spread over a considerably wider area, although still massively reduced from its historic range.
African bush elephants, being the largest of all elephants, are the largest living terrestrial mammal.
Bull bush elephants can reach as high as 13 feet at the shoulders and weigh as much as 10 tons.
They are distributed over 37 countries inhabiting generally open terrain such as forests, grassland and woodland.
They will also live in wetlands and agricultural land.
Elephants in general are highly social animals and this is certainly true of the African bush elephant as well.
They travel in large herds composed of females and their offspring–adult males typically live alone though sometimes also in small groups of bachelors.
They are herbivorous and feed on grasses, creepers, bark, herbs and leaves.
Pregnancy, unsurprisingly, lasts a very long time in elephants.
Their gestation period typically lasts around 22 months, which gives them the longest gestation period of any mammal.
They have gray skin with scanty hairs, and one of their most iconic features is their enormous ears which cover more or less their entire shoulder.
By flapping these ears they can cool themselves down and help to reduce body heat.
They have a long trunk that ends with two finger-like tips which they use for grasping.
Their tusks are sturdy, curving outwards and pointing forwards.
They also use their trunks for tactile communication, using it as a physical greeting and as an indication of social status.
They also use a variety of calls to communicate with one another.
Why is the African bush elephant the national animal of Mozambique?
The African bush elephant is the national animal of Mozambique for a variety of reasons.
They are, on the one hand, richly symbolic to the people of Mozambique and embody a great many important aspects of national pride and identity to the nation.
They are seen as spirits of power, courage, and freedom, while at the same time embodying gentleness and care.
They possess enormous strength and power and yet at the same time this is not something they generally use to bully or bulldoze others.
They are usually peaceful and cooperative among their own species, using their size only for protection from others.
On the other hand, they are also seen as more literal embodiments of the country’s natural beauty.
The African landscape is in many areas dominated by the elephant and in Mozambique this is certainly the case.
Few animals, then, could so well embody the beauty of the nation in this way, and so another more physical reason they have been made the national animal is the way they reflect this.
Sadly, though, they are also endangered and in real peril of extinction in the near future, and making them the national animal can bring some awareness to this problem.
How many African bush elephants are left?
It’s thought that, in total, there are around 400,000 African elephants remaining in the wild, with African bush elephants making up the larger proportion of this remaining number.
This may still seem high, but the figures continue to rapidly decline, and one of the biggest problems they are facing is the loss of their habitat and hunting for the illegal ivory trade.
Without significant and drastic action, the populations will continue to decline in the future and it may be that they are all gone within a few short decades.
Are African bush elephants aggressive?
All elephants are generally peaceful when left alone and will certainly not seek out confrontation with humans or other species.
That said, they will fiercely defend their own when they feel threatened, and what makes them feel threatened could vary a lot between individuals.
They may simply feel that a group of people is encroaching on their territory and respond with the necessary aggression, or they might feel immediately threatened by the actions of a person.
They will defend themselves, then, and of course, an elephant of any kind, let alone the largest of all kinds, could easily kill a person–so they are dangerous even if not actively aggressive.
Again, it is difficult to overstate the symbolic role that the elephant has played in many African cultures and indeed beyond.
Anywhere they have been found historically, they have played a significant role in local mythology and folklore, and this is certainly true in Mozambique.
They are seen to be spirits of the nation and among the most obvious, important, and imposing naturalistic symbols in the country.