Elephants eat shrubs and small trees, such as acacia, that grow on the savanna. Even if an acacia tree grows to a height of a meter or more, elephants are able to knock it over and uproot it. This feeding behavior keeps the savanna a grassland and not a forest or woodland.
With elephants to control the tree population, grasses thrive and sustain grazing animals such as antelopes, wildebeests, and zebras. Smaller animals such as mice and shrews are able to burrow in the warm, dry soil of a savanna. Predators such as lions and hyenas depend on the savanna for prey.