The orange lines drawn on the image of the fig tree show an elephant browse line of between 5-6 m which is typical of African savannah elephants.
Big male elephants which can browse standing on their hind feet are known to create even higher browse lines which can exceed 8 m. above ground level.
In the ongoing battle to survive elephant attacks on their bark and leaves African savannah fig trees such as Ficus burkei have evolved at least two important defenses.
Firstly, the base of the fig tree is not one solid trunk with bark that can be easily stripped by an elephant but a mass of twisted roots woven together and impossible for an elephant tusk to penetrate.
Secondly, the fig roots expand in length upwards not downwards and act like elevators pushing up the tree.
Instead of growing upwards from a shoot on top of a central trunk or from a leading branch the roots expand in length which raises the height of the whole fig tree. The fig tree trunk is effectively a false or pseudo trunk.
All photos taken on 4 March 2025 at Kisumba camping ground on the outer slopes of the Ngorongoro Crater in Northern Tanzania, East Africa.
