Asian elephants are more easily tamed than their larger African counterparts, and have been used as beasts of burden for centuries.

Subspecies
E.m.maximus, E.m.indicus, E.m.sumatranus.

Life span
Asian elephants live for 70 years.

Statistics
Body Length: 5.5-6.40m, Shoulder height: 2.5-3m, Weight: Male: 5000kg, Female: 3000kg, Tail length: 1-1.3m.

Physical Description
Asian elephants are distinguished from their African counterparts by their smaller size, smaller ears, more rounded back, and a fourth toenail on each of their hind feet. They have thick, dry skin with a small amount of stiff hair, and are grey to brown in colour. Female Asian elephants have rudimentary tusks.

Distribution
Asian elephants have an extensive range across India and Sri Lanka and also occur further south and east as far as Sumatra. These three areas appear to contain subspecies all with slightly different characteristics.

Habitat
Asian elephants are spread over areas where rainfall levels vary considerably. They can survive in dry places where less than 40cm of rain falls per year, and in wet areas where over 8m of rain can fall in a year.

Diet
Elephants have a diverse vegetarian diet, including grasses, bamboo, legumes, bark, succulent climbers, creepers and palms. They have seasonal favourites such as fig leaves and fruits, tamarind, wood apple and mango.

Behaviour
Asian elephants are very sociable and live in basic family units of one adult cow and her offspring. Daughters remain with their mothers, but sons leave at puberty, often joining bull groups or remaining solitary. Bull elephants associate with a family when a cow is in oestrus.

This species does not appear to be territorial. Males have home ranges of about 15 square km, and herds of females have ranges of about 30 square km, which increases in the dry season. Seasonal migration has been made virtually impossible, due to human development.

Reproduction
Females usually have one calf after a gestation period of 18-22 months and give birth every three to four years. The calves weigh about 100kg at birth and suckle for about 18 months. They can eat some vegetation after several months.

Conservation status
Asian elephants are classified as Endangered by the 2000 IUCN Red List. They have long since vanished from Southwest Asia and most of China. Sri Lanka was once recognised for its large elephant populations, but today the numbers are being reduced.

As the number of humans increases, the area of natural habitat that the elephants rely on is being depleted. Elephants are being forced onto farming areas, where they cause damage. It is estimated that 28,000 to 42,000 Asian elephants remain in the wild.