African elephant vs Cloth of gold

Loxodonta africana compared with Crocus angustifolius

Key Differences

African elephant is Vulnerable while Cloth of gold is Not Evaluated.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	African elephant	Cloth of gold
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Mammalia (Mammals)	Liliopsida (Monocots)
Order	Proboscidea (Elephants)	Asparagales (Asparagales)
Family	Elephantidae (Elephants)	Iridaceae
Genus	Loxodonta (African Elephants)	Crocus
Species	Loxodonta africana	Crocus angustifolius

Conservation Status

African elephant

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~415.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Cloth of gold

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	African elephant	Cloth of gold
Diet	Herbivore	—
Average Lifespan	65 years	—
Average Length	6.0 m	—
Average Weight	6.0 t	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

African elephant

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, and flooded grasslands and savannas, among 5 distinct biome types within the Afrotropic biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Found in Kenya. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Cloth of gold

Habitat

Typically found in grasslands, wetlands, forests, and cultivated landscapes.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Estonia, Norway, Sweden, and United States.

African elephant

The largest land animal on Earth, African elephants can reach 7,000 kg and inhabit sub-Saharan savannas, forests, and wetlands. Highly intelligent with complex social structures led by matriarchs, they communicate through infrasound, rumbles, and touch. As ecosystem engineers, they shape habitats by uprooting trees, digging waterholes, and dispersing seeds. Vulnerable, with populations declining due to ivory poaching and habitat loss.

Cloth of gold

The cloth of gold crocus (Crocus angustifolius) is a small bulbous perennial in the family Iridaceae native to the Crimean Peninsula, the Caucasus, and nearby regions of southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia. Named for its brilliant golden-yellow flowers with distinctive bronze-purple exterior striping on the outer tepals, it is among the most ornamentally striking of the spring-flowering crocuses. The corms produce narrow, rush-like leaves with a white central stripe and solitary flowers on short stems at ground level in late winter to early spring, emerging before or with the leaves. In its native habitat, C. angustifolius grows on rocky slopes, dry grasslands, and open scrublands in the Crimean mountains and Caucasian foothills, where it is adapted to cold winters and warm, dry summers. The species has been cultivated in European gardens since at least the 16th century and is widely grown as an ornamental bulb. Natural populations may face pressure from overcollection for the horticultural trade and from habitat disturbance in parts of its native range in the Black Sea region.