Asian Elephant

Asian Elephant



COMMON NAME: Asian elephant, Indian elephant
KINGDOM: Animalia
PHYLUM: Chordata
CLASS: Mammalia
ORDER: Proboscidea
FAMILY: Elephantidae
GENUS SPECIES: Elephas (elephant) maximus (largest)


DESCRIPTION: Huge thick-skinned herbivore with fan-shaped ears and a long trunk, with a single finger-like projection at the tip, which originates between two forward projecting incisors that extend to the ground
SIZE: 2.4-3.1 m (8-10 ft.) at the shoulder
WEIGHT: 2700-5000 kg (6000-11000 lb.); females are smaller
DIET: Consumes plants including grasses, fruits, vegetables, leaves, and bark which it gathers with its long trunk
GESTATION: 18-22 months
MALE 10-14 years (bulls)
FEMALE 8-9 years (cows)
LIFE SPAN: 60-70 years
RANGE: Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, and Sumatra
HABITAT: Forests, adjoining grasslands, and scrub
STATUS: IUCN Endangered
CITES Appendix I
USFWS Endangered


1. The elephant's ivory tusks are incisors used for digging, uprooting trees and displaying.
2. The dominant elephant in the herd is a female, the matriarch. She is often the oldest, largest or most experienced elephant in the herd of related females and their young.
3. An infant elephant is cared for by its mother and other females called "aunties" in the herd.
4. Elephants can use low frequency sound waves for communication between members of the herd and individuals outside the herd. These sounds may carry for distances of up to 10 miles.


Asian elephants have adapted to their environment as it changed over vast periods of time. Today they still interact with and shape their environment. Their foraging activities help to maintain the areas in which they live. by pulling down trees to eat leaves, branches, and roots they create clearings in which new young trees and other vegetation grow to provide future nutrition for elephants and other organisms. Elephant trails through the brush are paths that other animals can use. Termites eat elephant feces and often begin construction of termite mounds under piles of feces!

The Asian elephants' forest homes are being ravaged today because of commercial demand for forest derived products such as coffee, tea, rubber, and hardwoods. Crop cultivation, mining for iron ore, and flooding by hydroelectric projects have also acted to diminish the large tracts of land required by elephants for adequate food supplies. Only about 35,000-40,000 Asian elephants survive today throughout a discontinuous range in southeast Asia.


Eisenberg, J.F., McKay, G.M., and Seidensticker, J. Asian Elephants. Washington, DC: Friends of the National Zoo and National Zoological Park, 1990.

Shoshani, J., Ph.D., Editor. Elephants Majestic Creatures of the Wild Emaus, PA: Rodale Press, 1992.

Whitney, L.P. The Unforgettable Elephant. New York: Walker and Company, 1980.