Elephants have fascinated man since early civilization. They have been used as symbols of wisdom and power; they have featured in myths and religions, and appeared on coins, in architecture and in folklore. Yet elephant history has been dominated by periods of brutality and persecution, used in gladiatorial combat; as weapons of war (most notably by Hannibal) and for their ivory, prized since ancient times as a symbol of wealth and status. As the ivory trade continued there are now only five countires with sizable elephant populations, where a few hundred years ago there were 46 - before the European hunters arrived. This is a biography about the African elephant.