It is the largest living terrestrial animal, with fully grown bulls reaching an average shoulder height of 3.04–3.36 metres (10.0–11.0 ft) and a body mass of 5.2–6.9 tonnes (11,000–15,000 lb); the largest recorded specimen had a shoulder height of 3.96 metres (13.0 ft) and an estimated body mass of 10.4 tonnes (23,000 lb).

The African bush elephant is characterised by its long prehensile trunk with two finger-like processes; a convex back; large ears which help reduce body heat; and sturdy tusks that are noticeably curved.

The African bush elephant inhabits a variety of habitats such as forests, grasslands, woodlands, wetlands and agricultural land.

In human culture, elephants have been extensively featured in literature, folklore and media, and are most valued for their large tusks in many places.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, several zoological specimens were described by naturalists and curators of natural history museums from various parts of Africa, including: Today, these names are all considered synonyms.

The earliest possible records of the species are from the Shungura Formation around Omo in Ethiopia, which are dated to the Early Pleistocene, around 2.44-2.27 million years ago.

Under optimal conditions where individuals are capable of reaching full growth potential, fully grown mature males are about 3.20 m (10.5 ft) tall at the shoulder and weigh 6.0 t (6.6 short tons) on average (with 90% of fully grown males under optimal conditions being between 3.04–3.36 m (10.0–11.0 ft) and 5.2–6.9 t (5.7–7.6 short tons)).

[21] Tusks grow from deciduous teeth known as tushes that develop in the upper jaw and consist of a crown, root and pulpal cavity, which are completely formed soon after birth.

It moves between a variety of habitats, including subtropical and temperate forests, dry and seasonally flooded grasslands, woodlands, wetlands, and agricultural land from sea level to mountain slopes.

[33] In a 2019 study, populations were found to be steady, though the authors also noted an unusual increase in carcasses, possibly due to a new wave of poaching which was uncommon at the time.

Iain Douglas-Hamilton, who observed African bush elephants for 4.5 years in Lake Manyara National Park, coined the term 'kinship group' for two or more family units that have close ties.

[46] African bush elephants' consumption of woody plants, particularly their habit of uprooting trees, has the ability to alter the local environment, transforming woodlands into grasslands.

In Kruger National Park and on the shore of Lake Kariba, elephants were observed to ingest wood ash, which also contains sodium.

[59] This unusual behavior was attributed to their young age and inadequate socialisation; they were 17–25-year-old orphans from culled families that grew up without the guidance of dominant bulls.

[77] In Botswana's Chobe National Park, lions attacked and fed on juvenile and subadult elephants during the drought when smaller prey species were scarce.

[79] Observations at Etosha National Park indicate that African bush elephants die due to anthrax foremost in November at the end of the dry season.

[82] Infection of the vital organs by Citrobacter freundii bacteria caused the death of an otherwise healthy bush elephant after capture and translocation.

[83] From April to June 2020, over 400 bush elephants died in Botswana's Okavango Delta region after drinking from desiccating waterholes that were infested with cyanobacteria.

[90] Both African and Asian elephants have a very large and highly complex neocortex, a trait also shared by humans, apes and certain dolphin species.

[91] Elephants manifest a wide variety of behaviors, including those associated with grief, learning, mimicry, playing, altruism, tool use, compassion, cooperation, self-awareness, memory, and communication.

[2] Poachers target foremost elephant bulls for their tusks, which leads to a skewed sex ratio and affects the survival chances of a population.

Access of poachers to unregulated black markets is facilitated by corruption and periods of civil war in some elephant range countries.

It contained 42,120 hanko stamps and 532 tusks of African bush elephants that originated in Southern Africa, centered in Zambia and neighboring countries.

Genetic analysis of tusk samples showed that they originated from African bush elephants killed in Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, Kenya, and Uganda.

[110] A study in Mozambique's Gorongosa National Park revealed that poaching during the Mozambican Civil War led to the increasing birth of tuskless females when the population recovered.

Large corporations associated with commercial logging and mining have fragmented the land, giving poachers easy access to the African bush elephant.

Community-based conservation programmes have been initiated in several range countries, which contributed to reducing human-elephant conflict and increasing local people's tolerance towards elephants.

[2] Researchers discovered that playing back the recorded sounds of African bees is an effective method to drive elephants away from settlements.

[115] In Africa, elephants have found a prominent role in human culture since ancient times and were most priced for their ivory tusks, which were considered valuable commercial goods.

For example, the Libyan Tadrart Acacus, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, features a rock carving of an elephant from the last phase of the Pleistocene epoch (12,000–8000 BC)[118] rendered with remarkable realism.