Loxodonta cyclotis was the scientific name proposed by Paul Matschie in 1900 who described the skulls of a female and a male specimen collected by the Sanaga River in southern Cameroon.

The forest elephant lives in social associations in the tropical rainforests of West Africa and the Congo Basin. It is the smaller relative of the African elephant, which feeds exclusively on plant food from the forests. The forest elephant therefore plays an important role in the ecological network, as it spreads the seeds of trees through its droppings. According to calculations, a single animal distributes around 350 seeds a day in this way over an area of just over one square kilometer.  In the Cuvette Centrale, 14 of 18 megafaunal tree species depend on seed dissemination by African forest elephants,. These species are not able to survive without elephants. African forest elephants provide ecological services that maintain the composition and structure of Central African forests.As a rule, the animals use undisturbed forests and avoid areas with intensive human activity. 

The African forest elephant lives in family groups of 3-8 individuals. Groups of up to 20 individuals were seen in the Dzanga-Sangha Complex of Protected Areas, comprising adult cows, their daughters and subadult sons. Family members look after calves together, called allomothering. Once young bulls reach sexual maturity, they separate from the family group and form loose bachelor groups for a few days, but usually stay alone. Adult bulls associate with family groups only during the mating season. Family groups travel about 7.8 km per day and move in a home range of up to 2,000km². Their seasonal movement is related to the availability of ripe fruits in Primary Rainforests.

They use a complex network of permanent trails that pass through stands of fruit trees and connect forest clearings with mineral licks. These trails are reused by humans and other animals. In Odzala-Kokoua National Park, groups were observed to frequently meet at forest clearings indicating a fission–fusion society. They stayed longer when other groups were also present. Smaller groups joined large groups, and bulls joined family units.

Females reach sexual maturity between the age of 8 and 12 years, depending on the population density and nutrition available. On average, they begin breeding at the age of 23 and give birth every 5–6 years. As a result, the birth rate is lower than the bush species. Baby elephants weigh around 105 kg at birth. Almost immediately, they can stand up and move around. The baby suckles using its mouth while its trunk is held over its head. Their tusks do not come until around 16 months and calves are not weaned until they are roughly 4 or 5 years old. By this time, their tusks are around 14 cm long and begin to get in the way of suckling.

Forest elephants have a lifespan of about 60 to 70 years and mature slowly, coming to puberty in their early teens. Bulls generally pass puberty within the next year or two of females. Between the ages of 15 and 25, bulls experience "musth", which is a hormonal state they experience marked by increased aggression. The male secretes fluid from the temporal gland between its ear and eye during this time. When undergoing musth, bulls have a more erect walk with their heads high and tusks inward, they may rub their heads on trees or bushes to spread the musth scent, and they may even flap their ears, accompanied by a musth rumble, so that their smell can be blown towards other elephants. Another behavior affiliated with musth is urination. Bulls allow their urine to slowly come out and spray the insides of their hind legs. All of these behaviors are to advertise to receptive females and competing bulls they are in the musth state. Bulls only return to the herd to breed or to socialize, they do not provide prenatal care to their offspring but rather play a fatherly role to younger bulls to show dominance.

The females are poly estrous, which means that they are capable of conceiving multiple times a year. Generally, the female conceives after two or three matings. Although the female has plenty of room in her uterus to gestate twins, twins are rarely conceived. The female African forest elephant's pregnancy lasts 22 months. Based on the maturity, fertility, and gestation rates, African forest elephants have the capabilities of increasing the species' population size by 5% annually under ideal conditions.