Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)
Asian elephants are smaller than their African counterparts, most easily noted in their ear size. They are more readily tamed than African elephants and have been used as beasts of burden for centuries. Despite their size, their charge speed can reach nearly 50kmph. Wild bulls are solitary, while cows and calves live in small herds. Though the adult Asian elephant has no natural predators, there are only around 50,000 left in the wild.
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Tea time 
Elephant and cobra 
Afternoon drinks About the Asian elephant
The Asian or Asiantic Elephant (Elephas maximus), sometimes known by the name of one of its subspecies, the Indian Elephant, is one of the three living species of elephant, and the only living species of the genus Elephas. It is the largest living land animal in Asia. The species is found primarily in Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Indochina and parts of Nepal and Indonesia (primarily Borneo), Viet Nam and Thailand. It is considered endangered, with between 41,410 and 52,345 left in the wild.
This animal is widely domesticated, and has been used in forestry in South and Southeast Asia for centuries and also in ceremonial purposes. Historical sources indicate that they were sometimes used during the harvest season primarily for milling. Wild elephants attract tourist money to the areas where they can most readily be seen, but damage crops, and may enter villages to raid gardens.
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The Asian elephant is
- Dung eater
- Herbivorous
- Hierarchical
- Nomadic
- Pheromone signaller
- Sexually dimorphic
- Social
- Viviparous
Adaptation data provided by Animal Diversity Web
Where can I see them?
They can be found in the following habitats:
Conservation Status
The Asian elephant is Endangered (IUCN 3.1)
- EX - Extinct
- EW
- CR - Threatened
- EN - Threatened
- VU - Threatened
- NT
- LC - Least concern
Population trend: Decreasing
Year assessed: 2008
What's the threat?
Habitat loss has been a primary factor in the decline of the Asian elephant. As the human population in the region has increased, vast areas of the elephant’s forest habitat have been logged or converted to agriculture. The elephants have become increasingly isolated in habitat patches as human settlements cut off ancient migratory routes. There is concern that many of these subpopulations are too small to be viable. Even protected populations are at risk from inbreeding and disease and may be too small to be viable, as the majority of existing national parks and reserves cover relatively restricted areas. Elephants are increasingly coming into contact with farmers and local people as their feeding grounds are destroyed. They raid crops, destroy properties, and sometimes even kill people. The villagers often retaliate by killing the elephants, and experts now believe this to be the main cause of elephant deaths in Asia. Poaching for ivory, and occasionally meat, continues to threaten wild populations. Since only males have tusks, poaching has resulted in populations becoming skewed towards females. This has affected breeding rates and may lead to increased instances of inbreeding and decreased breeding success. Unsustainable capture for domestication is a historical cause of population decline, which persists in some countries today.
Information about the threat is provided by the Zoological Society of London's EDGE of Existence programme
Elsewhere on the web
- Asian elephant - Elephas maximus (arkive.org)
- Elephas maximus (animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu)
- Asian Elephant Specialist Group (asesg.org)
- IUCN Red List information (iucnredlist.org)
- Key Asian elephant facts (panda.org)
- Animal Bytes: fast and fun facts (seaworld.org)
- Asian Elephant (wikipedia.org)
- Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) (edgeofexistence.org)
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