| Elephant, Asian | |||
| Genus | Elephas | ||
| Species | maximus | ||
| Status | Endangered | ||
| Number Left | Fewer than 50,000 in wild | ||
| Habitat | Forest | ||
| Distribution | South-central and southeastern Asia | ||
| Height | 8-9 feet (2.5-3 meters) | ||
| Length | 18-21 feet (5.5-6.4 meters) | ||
| Weight | 11,000 pounds (5000 kg) | ||
| Diet | Leaves, shoots, branches, grasses | ||
| Feeding | An Asian elephant feeds sixteen hours a day, eating about 400 pounds (181 kg) of leaves and grasses. They always need to be near water because they drink about 61 gallons (230 liters) a day! They also produce huge mounds of manure that contain nutrients on which birds and other creatures feed. | ||
| Breeding | When born, an Asian elephant weighs about 200 pounds (90 kg). If she is female, she will stay with its mother's herd all her life. If he is a male, he will leave the herd and join a small group of other males when it is eleven or twelve years old. | ||
| Conservation | The Asian elephant's numbers are decreasing mainly because of habitat loss. Its natural home is in the tropical forests of India and Asia, but much of this area has been cleared for farmers to plant crops. Many elephants then move to the open plains, where they are easy targets for hunters and traders. Today, most wild elephants live in national parks. | ||
| Interesting Facts |
People have been using Asian elephants for hundreds of years - to lift logs, pull heavy loads, and carry people. Almost all of these elephants were originally from the wild and then tamed.
People who use elephants for labor did not want their elephants to reproduce, because the mothers could not work while they were caring for their young. Instead, they catch wild elephants, and, in the process, lessen the natural populations. Asian elephants are also known as Indian elephants, but their closest living relative is the African elephant. African elephants, however, have larger ears (some say in the shape of Africa), a straighter back, larger tusks, wrinkled skin, and a trunk with two fingers at its tip. An Asian elephant has smaller ears (some say in the shape of India), a rounded back, smaller tusks, smoother skin, and only one finger on its trunk. | ||
| Images and Video Clips | |||
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| Sound Snippet | |||
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1) Tooting and Trumpeting | |||
| Animal Communication Panel | |||
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