Asian Elephants
Asian Elephants
Asian Elephants
Elephas maximum
Elephas is one of two surviving genera in the order of elephants, Proboscidea. The genus has one surviving species, the Asian elephant (E. maximus), but ten extinct species have been identified as belonging to the genus, including E. recki, E. antiquus, and the dwarf elephants E. falconeri and E. cypriotes. The genus is very closely related to the mammoth genus Mammuthus.
The currently recognized subspecies within the species of E. maximus are E.m. maximus or Sri Lankan elephant, E.m. indicus or Indian elephant, E.m. sumatranus or Sumatran elephant, E.m. hirsutus or the Malayan elephant.
Geographic Range and Habitat
Asian elephants were formerly widely distributed south of the Himalayas, throughout Southeast Asia, and in China as far north as the Yangtze River but now are found only in parts of India, Sri Lanka, Burma/Myanmar,Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Sumatra and northern Borneo.
Asian elephants mainly use scrub forest, although their habitat can vary. They can be found in the jungle, but generally on the edge where open, grassy areas are accessible. They prefer areas that combine grass, low woody plants, and forest. Asian elephants are herbivores, and are primarily browsers, eating the leaves and bark of bushes and trees. An Asian elephant can consume 150 to 300 pounds of food in a day. Because of its great size, strength and need for enormous quantities of food and water, it requires a large amount of habitat. In addition, poaching, habitat destruction and the encroachment of human populations on its habitat and migration routes have caused wild numbers to rapidly decline.
Asian Elephant Habitat Image Gallery
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Physical Description
The Asian elephant is slightly smaller than the African elephant, reaching a height of 12-13 feet and a weight of 5 to 6 tons. Female Asian elephants are smaller in size and weight than the males. The Asian elephant has small, square ears, and relatively smooth skin that is often densely freckled. The tip of the trunk has only a single projection or “finger.”
In contrast to African elephants, Asian elephants have ears that are much smaller, the back is not as sloping, the head rather than the shoulders is the highest part of the body, the trunk has a single finger-like projection rather than two, and the hind foot has 4 nails rather than 3. The elephant’s teeth are unique. Their incisor teeth develop into tusks that grow throughout the animal’s life. A tusk, which are deeply rooted in the cranium, can grow 8 feet long (245-250 cm) and can weigh over 130 pounds (60 kg) each. In Asian elephants, only the male has long tusks, although many males have no tusks at all. Females have short tusks usually hidden under their upper lip called “tushes”. The only other teeth they have are four molars – two on the upper jaw and two on the lower jaw – which are replaced seven times throughout their lives. As the animal ages and the teeth are worn away with use, they are replaced from behind with the next set. If an elephant lives long enough to have used up all of its teeth, it then starves to death.
Asian Elephant Image Gallery
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Reproductive Behavior
There is no seasonality in their reproduction. Female Asian elephants become reproductive at about 10 – 12 years of age, usually giving birth to a single calf after an average of 659 days of gestation. Newborns average 3 feet tall and about 250 pounds and are usually weaned between 2 to 4 years of age. Twins are rare. Calves are precocial as they can see, smell, and walk a short time after birth. These well-developed calves are guarded and taken care of by their allomothers; young females who assist the calf’s mother. After a few days it can follow its mother as she goes about her normal activities. Young begin to eat some grass after several months but may continue nursing for 18 months. They also eat their mother’s dung, which contains nutrients as well as the symbiotic bacteria that aid in the digestion of cellulose. Mothers continue to supervise their young for several years after weaning. A female calf will usually stay with the herd she was born into her entire life. A typical female will give birth every 4 to 6 years, allowing for about 7 offspring in her 50-year lifespan.
Male Asian elephants leave the herd at puberty and maintain loose relationships with other males as they mature. Males may travel alone or in temporary male groups. A wild male will become reproductive in his 30s when he attains the size and weight to compete against other adult males for fertile females. A females’ estrus period lasts for about forty-eight hours. A bull in musth, a heightened state of sexual aggression and activity, must determine if the cow is in estrus by smelling her genitals. He inhales with the end of his trunk rubbing her genitals, then exhales with the end of the trunk in his mouth. This sends chemicals to his Jacobson’s organ, located in the palate, to test her condition for mating. The oldest, largest males do most of the breeding; leaving the younger bulls to roam as they age and grow in size and strength. Males constantly search for mates and rarely stay for more than a few weeks with a female and her herd.
Adult and Juvenile Image Gallery
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Behavior
Asian elephants are quite social. Cows form stable herds of about 5 or more of their female relatives. These matriarchal groups are led by the oldest female, who coordinates the herd’s movements in search of food and water. Herds may temporarily break up into smaller subgroups, which maintain contact through low frequency long-distance vocalizations. The herd’s well being depends on the guidance of the matriarch. She determines when they eat, rest, bathe or drink. Females in the herd practice motherhood by being allomothers to the calves. These assistants play with and babysit babies and retrieve them if they stray too far. Males are sometimes found with these herds, especially when a female is in estrus. In the past these animals migrated seasonally, but human activities such as agriculture have now made this virtually impossible.
Elephants display dominance with a raised head, trunk, and ears. They also snap their ears, shake their heads, make trumpeting noises and rumbles. They display submission by turning their behind to the dominant animal, leveling their ears, lowering their heads and vocalizing.
Food Habits
Elephants eat a wide variety of species of vegetation. They consume grasses, bark, roots, leaves, and stems of trees, vines, and shrubs. Most of an adult’s activities involve moving toward and eating food. They eat in the morning, evening, and night but rest during the hottest part of the day. An average day’s intake is 150 – 200 kg of vegetation, of which only about 44% is actually digested (with the aid of symbiotic gut bacteria). Elephants eat long grasses by plucking a “handful” with their trunk and putting the bundle in their mouth. To eat short grasses, they kick up a pile of dirt with their feet and sweep the grass into their mouth, again with the end of their trunk. Shrubs are eaten by breaking off twigs with the trunk and inserting them into the mouth. To eat the bark off larger branches, they hold the branch with their trunk and rotate it while scraping off the bark with their teeth – similar to the way people eat corn on the cob. Elephants also drink at least once a day (140 liters of water may be consumed in just one day) and so are never very far from a water supply.
Lifespan/Longevity
The Asian elephant lives on average about 55 – 65 years.
Predation
* Known predators tigers (Panthera tigris)
* Asiatic lions (Panthera leo persica)
When a potential predator such as a lion or tiger threatens a calf, the adults form a defensive circle with the calf in the middle. Adult elephants are probably not susceptible to predation by any species other than humans.
Conservation
Asian elephants have been domesticated for centuries. Individuals can be trained to reliably perform a wide variety of tasks. They are used as draft animals, for hunting, and for transportation. Ivory from their tusks is used in the manufacture of a number of items, including jewelry. Poaching for ivory has impacted Asian elephant population numbers but the greatest threat to the Asian elephant is habitat loss caused by agriculture and deforestation. Centuries ago they disappeared from southwestern Asia and most of China. Currently there are only an estimated 28,000 to 42,000 wild Asian elephants remaining.
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List: Endangered.
US Federal List: Endangered.
CITES: Appendix I.
Asian elephants are on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and are considered endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
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