5 t11,000 lb
An adult African elephant weighs about 5 tonnes (roughly 11,000 lb). Sex makes a big difference: savanna bulls average about 6 t (13,000 lb) and cows about 2.8 t (6,100 lb), and forest elephants are smaller. The biggest bull ever measured, shot in Angola in 1974, is estimated at 10 to 12 tonnes.
| Biggest bull on recordAngola, 1974. A 2016 estimate; Guinness gives 12.24 t | 10.4 t22,900 lb |
|---|---|
| Henry, the Smithsonian’s elephantAngola, 1955. Described by the Smithsonian as 11 US tons | 10 t22,000 lb |
| Savanna bull, averageAbout 3.2 m (10 ft 6 in) at the shoulder | 6 t13,200 lb |
| Savanna cow, averageAbout 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in) at the shoulder | 2.8 t6,170 lb |
| Forest elephant bullRough estimate for a 2.2 m bull; rarely weighed | 2 t4,410 lb |
| Newborn calfUsually 90 to 120 kg (200 to 270 lb) | 100 kg220 lb |
It depends mostly on sex. The African savanna (or bush) elephant, the bigger of the two African species, differs between the sexes much more than the Asian elephant does. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance gives average weights of 6,000 kg (13,000 lb) for bulls and 2,800 kg (6,100 lb) for cows. Guinness World Records says adult bulls typically weigh 4 to 7 tonnes and stand 3 to 3.7 m (9 ft 10 in to 12 ft 1 in) at the shoulder.
Our figure of 5 tonnes is a bull of about 3 m (9 ft 10 in) at the shoulder, a little below average height. Elephants keep growing slowly for much of their lives, so old bulls are the heaviest of all. Cows stay far lighter, reaching up to about 3,600 kg (8,000 lb).
Wild elephants are hardly ever put on a scale. Most weights come from formulas that link shoulder height to body mass, built from elephants that were weighed in the 1960s and 1970s. Asier Larramendi’s 2016 review of those studies is where the 6 t and 3 t averages for animals in good condition come from.
Africa has two elephant species, and the IUCN has assessed them separately since 2021. The savanna elephant, listed as Endangered, is the largest land animal alive. The forest elephant of Central and West Africa, listed as Critically Endangered, is much smaller: bulls average only about 2.2 to 2.3 m (7 ft 3 in to 7 ft 6 in) at the shoulder.
Forest elephants have barely been weighed. Larramendi estimates an average bull at about 2 tonnes, since its body shape matches the savanna elephant’s. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance gives a wider 2,700 to 6,000 kg and notes the figures are poorly known.
The Asian elephant sits in between. Smithsonian’s National Zoo puts adults at 2,750 to 5,420 kg (6,000 to 12,000 lb). Larramendi found that at the same shoulder height the two are about equally heavy (a 3 m bull of either species weighs about 5 t), but African savanna bulls simply grow taller.
The largest elephant reliably measured was a bull shot at Mucusso, Angola, on 7 November 1974. Lying on its side it measured 4.16 m (13 ft 7 in) from shoulder to forefoot, which means about 3.96 m (13 ft) standing. Guinness World Records lists its computed weight as 12.24 tonnes (26,984 lb). In 2016, Larramendi argued that older formulas overestimate the very tallest elephants and put the same bull at about 10.4 tonnes (23,000 lb).
The most famous big bull is Henry, the elephant that has stood in the rotunda of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History since 1959. He was shot in the Cuando River region of southeastern Angola on 13 November 1955, and his hide alone weighed about two tons. The Smithsonian describes him as an 11-ton (about 10 tonnes) elephant. He measured 4.01 m lying down, so about 3.81 m standing, slightly shorter than the 1974 bull.
An average savanna bull weighs about 13,000 lb and an average cow about 6,100 lb. Our game uses 11,000 lb (5 t) for a grown bull. The record bull from Angola is estimated at 23,000 to 27,000 lb.
A newborn African savanna elephant usually weighs 90 to 120 kg (200 to 270 lb), after a pregnancy of about 22 months. Newborn Asian elephants are similar, at 68 to 158 kg (150 to 350 lb).
A 2018 Georgia Tech study estimated the trunk of an adult female African elephant at about 150 kg (330 lb). The often repeated “40,000 muscles” is out of date: a 2023 micro-CT study counted about 90,000 muscle fascicles (small bundles of muscle fibres) in a trunk, organised into a handful of major muscle groups.
An adult eats about 75 to 150 kg (165 to 330 lb) of grass, leaves, bark and fruit a day and drinks 75 to 190 litres (20 to 50 gallons) of water. Wild elephants can spend up to 18 hours a day feeding.
Yes, on average. African savanna bulls average about 6 t, while Asian bulls in good condition average about 4 t. At the same shoulder height the two weigh about the same, but African bulls grow taller.
Last checked October 2, 2026.
