Which African elephant species has downward-pointing tusks and rounded ears?

The African elephant species with downward-pointing tusks and rounded ears is the African forest elephant.

The African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) lives mainly in the humid forests of West Africa and the Congo Basin. It is the smallest of the three living elephant species and was formally described in 1900.

Unlike African bush elephants, forest elephants have straighter tusks that point downward, and both males and females usually grow them. Their tusks are relatively thin, hard and often pinkish. The tusks help animals push through dense vegetation and strip bark or reach food.

Their ears are more oval and rounded than the larger, more characteristically broad ears of African bush elephants. Forest elephants also have a nearly straight back, five toenails on each forefoot and four on each hind foot. They are threatened by habitat loss and poaching, and genetic research has confirmed that they are a distinct species rather than merely a forest-dwelling form of the African bush elephant.