Elephant racing enough to accommodate nine participating elephants. Elephants are entered into the races from many villages. Two mahuts or jockeys ride on each elephant - one to steer it and another to goad it to race fast. A musical instrument made of horns of the elephants is blown first to assemble the elephants at the starting gate, then another sound is blown to signal the elephants to take the starting line and be set for the race, and with the third blow of the horn, the race is signaled. The elephants generally race at a speed of 25 mph with the
African bush elephant List classified African elephants as a whole as vulnerable species and the Central African elephant population (forest elephants) as endangered. Another possible species or subspecies formerly existed; although formally described it has not been widely recognized by the scientific community. The North African elephant ("L. a. pharaohensis"), also known as the Carthaginian elephant or Atlas elephant, was the animal famously used as a war elephant by Carthage in its many wars with Rome. The African bush elephant has several distinct features which sets them apart from other similar species. They are generally larger than the African forest elephant, which has