THE ELEPHANT 

 Elephas aMoanus orleansi, Lyd. 



Somali name, marodi ; Galla name, Arba 



Description. — The Somali elephant has been given subspecific 

 distinction * owing to the difference of its ears, which are said to be 

 smaller than those of any of the other local varieties. It carries 

 very small tusks seldom exceeding 30 lb. in weight, and is not 

 worth the shooting. Fortunately it has now been strictly preserved, 

 and it is hoped the small herds that yearly pass from Northern 

 Somaliland to Abyssinia and back again will tend to increase in 

 ' numbers. 



Measurements. — The largest specimen mentioned in Rowland 

 Ward's " Records " taped 9 ft. 7\ in. at the shoulder. The 

 same book gives 60 lb. as the heaviest tusk from the Somali 

 country. 



Distribution. — Formerly elephants used to come right down 

 to the sea at Berbera, ranging over Guban, the Golis Range and 

 Waggar Mountain, and thence northwards into the Gadabursi 

 Hills and westwards through Hargeisa to the Abyssinian high- 

 lands. To-day they still wander round in the vicinity of Hargeisa, 

 Jifa Medir and the Gadabursi Hills, where owing to the strict 

 Game Laws they are unmolested. Farther south they are found 

 in Western Ogaden. 



Habits. — Their habits in the Somali country are similar 

 to elsewhere. They travel about in herds, leaving destruction in 

 their wake. They are particularly fond of the succulent Armo 

 creeper, a species of Vitis, which they rip from the trees, breaking 

 the latter down. In the dry season they subsist largely on the 

 Sansivieria, which is plentiful in most parts of the country. They 

 express the juice and pulp between their massive molars, ejecting 

 the fibre. 



* E. africanus orleansi. 



