African elephants live in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, with habitats ranging from the savannas to the mountains. Asian elephants live in areas of India and Southeast Asia with a habitat consisting of the grasslands surrounding the jungle.

Many people assume that elephants that are in the wild only live in the grasslands. While that is one of their main habitats, they can also be found in the desert of the Savannah, forest areas, where there are swamps, and everything in between. They form emigrational paths that they continue to follow year after year.

Elephants help maintain forest and savanna ecosystems for other species and are integrally tied to rich biodiversity. Elephants are important ecosystem engineers. They make pathways in dense forested habitat that allow passage for other animals.

Elephants live in tight-knit matrilineal family groups led by a matriarch who is often the eldest female. In their habitats, elephants play the role of keystone species and ecosystem engineers because they reshape the environment, uprooting vegetation while they forage and creating new waterholes as they dig for water.

Habitat African elephants inhabit a diverse array of habitats including tropical forests, savannas, grasslands, and woodlands. Tropical forests are characterized as having little variance in temperature (around 23°C) and length of daylight (around 12 hours).