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Table of Contents
The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), also recognized as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living species in the genus Elephas, and it ranges across the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west to Nepal in the north, Sumatra in the south, and Borneo in the east. There are three recognized subspecies: E. maximus from Sri Lanka, E.m. indicus from Asia’s mainland, and E. m. Sumatranus is a Sumatran species.
See the fact file below for more information on Asian Elephants or alternatively, you can download our 27-page Asian elephant worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.
Key Facts & Information
Overview
- The Asian elephant is Asia’s largest living land animal. The IUCN has listed the Asian elephant as Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1986, owing to a population decline of at least 50% over the last three elephant generations (60-75 years). It is primarily endangered due to habitat loss, degradation, fragmentation, and poaching.
- The wild population is projected to be 48,323-51,5680 individuals in 2019. Female captive elephants have lived for more than 60 years in semi-natural settings such as forest camps. Asian elephants die at a younger age in zoos, and captive populations are decreasing due to low birth and high mortality rates.
- During the Pliocene, the genus Elephas emerged in Sub-Saharan Africa and spread throughout Africa before reaching the southern half of Asia. Engravings on seals from the Indus Valley civilization dating from the third millennium BCE are the earliest evidence of the captive use of Asian elephants.
Characteristics
- Asian elephants are generally smaller than African bush elephants and have the highest body point on the head. The back is either convex or flat, and the ears are small and have dorsal borders that fold laterally.
- It can have up to 20 rib pairs and 34 caudal vertebrae. The feet have five nail-like structures on each forefoot and four on each hind foot, more than African elephants. In contrast to African elephants, the forehead has two hemispherical bulges.
Size
- When fully grown, bulls stand about 2.75 m (9.0 ft) tall at the shoulder and weigh 4 t (4.4 short tons), while cows stand about 2.40 (3.0 short tons).
- Body size sexual dimorphism is less prominent in Asian elephants than in African bush elephants, with bulls in the former being 15% and 23% taller, respectively.
- The body and head, along with the trunk, measure 5.5-6.6 cm (18-21 ft), with the tail measuring 1.2-1.5 m (3.9-4.9 ft). The giant bull elephant ever recorded was shot in the Garo Hills of Assam, India, in 1924 by Maharajah of Susang.
- It weighed around 7 t (7.7 metric tons), stood 3.43 m (11.3 ft) broad at the shoulder, and measured 8.06 m (26.4 ft) from head to tail. Individuals as tall as 3.7 meters have been observed (12 ft).
Trunk
- The trunk combines the nose and upper lip; the nostrils are at the tip, which has a one-finger-like process. The trunk contains up to 60,000 muscles divided into longitudinal and radiating sets. The longitudinals are mostly superficial, with anterior, lateral, and posterior divisions.
- The deeper muscles are best seen in the trunk cross-section as numerous distinct fasciculi. The trunk is a multifunctional prehensile organ susceptible and innervated by the trigeminal nerve’s maxillary division and the facial nerve. The trunk and Jacobson’s organ are both used in the acute sense of smell.
- Elephants use their trunks for various purposes, including breathing, watering, feeding, touching, dusting, sound production and interaction, washing, pinching, grasping, defense, and offense.
- The “proboscis,” or trunk, is a tapered muscular structure with a roughly circular cross-section that stretches proximally from the front nasal opening attachment and ends in a tip or finger. Depending on the species and age, the length can range from 1.5 to 2 m (59 to 79 in).
- The radial, longitudinal, and two oblique layers of muscle, as well as the size and attachment points of the tendon masses, allow for shortening, extension, bending, and twisting movements, accounting for the capacity to hold and manipulate loads of up to 300 kg (660 lb).
- Muscular and tendinous capability, combined with nervous control, enables extraordinary strength and agility in trunk movements such as sucking and spraying water or dust and directed airflow blowing.
- The trunk has a capacity of four liters. Elephants will playfully grapple with each other using their trunks, but only for gesturing when fighting.
Tusks
- Tusks are utilized to dig for water, salt, and pebbles, to deplane and deconstruct trees, as levers for managing fallen trees and branches, for labor, exhibition, and tree branding, as a defensive and offensive tool, as trunk rests, and as trunk protection. Elephants have either right or left tusks.
- In Asian elephants, the moral enamel plates are more numerous and closer together. Some bulls may be born without tusks; these individuals are known as “filsy makhanas” and are particularly common among the Sri Lankan elephant population.
Skin
- Skin color is typically grey and may be obscured by soil due to dusting and wallowing. The wrinkled skin moves and contains numerous nerve centers. It is smoother than African elephants’ skin and may be depigmented on the trunk, ears, or neck: body epidermis and dermis average 18 mm (0.71 in) bites, bumps, and bad weather.
- The folds increase the surface area available for heat dissipation. They can withstand cold better than extreme heat. The skin temperature ranges from 25 to 32.9 °C (75.2 to 91.2 °F). The average body temperature is 35.9 °C (96.6 °F).
Intelligence
- Asian elephants have a large and highly developed neocortex, like humans, apes, and some dolphin species, and they have more cerebral cortex for cognitive processing than any living land animal.
- According to research, Asian elephants have intellectual capabilities for tool use and tool-making comparable to great apes. They demonstrate various behaviors associated with grief, learning, allomothering, mimicry, play, altruism, tool use, compassion, cooperation, self-awareness, memory, and language.
- During natural catastrophes such as tsunamis and earthquakes, elephants are said to flee to safer ground. Still, data from two satellite-collared Sri Lankan elephants suggests this may not be the case. Several elephant cognition and neuroanatomy students believe Asian elephants are incredibly smart and self-aware.
Distribution and Habitat
- Asian elephants dwell in grassland, tropical evergreen forests, wet deciduous forests, dry deciduous forests, and dry thorn forests, in addition to refined and secondary forests and scrublands.
- Elephants can be found from sea level to over 3000 m in this range of habitat types (9,800 ft). They regularly move above 3000 m (9,000 ft) in the summer at a few sites in the eastern Himalayas of northeast India.
- Only in the preferences of Xishuangbanna, Simao, and Lincang of Southern Yunnan does the Asian elephant survive. The estimated population is around 300 people (in 2020).
Ecology and Behavior
- Crepuscular Asian elephants are megaherbivores, consuming up to 150 kg (330 lb) of plant matter daily. They are generalist feeders that graze and browse.
- They have been observed feeding on at least 112 different plant species, most of which are from the order Malvales, as well as the legume, palm, sedge, and actual grass families.
- They browse more during the dry season, with bark providing a significant portion of their diet during the cooler months. They consume water at least once a day and are never more than a few meters away from a permanent source of fresh water.
- They require 80-200 liters of water daily and use even more for bathing. They also scrape the soil for clay or minerals at times.
- Growls, squeaks, and snorts are the three basic sounds made by Asian elephants. Growls are used for short-distance communication in their most basic form. Growls reverberate in the trunk and become rumbles during mild arousal, but roars are used for long-distance communication.
- Low-frequency growls are infrasonic and can be heard in various settings. Squeaks are classified into two types: chirpings and trumpets. Chirping is characterized by short squeaks that indicate conflict and nervousness.
- Trumpets have longer, louder squeaks that are produced during extreme arousal. Snorts indicate changes in activity and loudness during mild or intense arousal.
- When an elephant bounces the tip of its trunk, it makes booms that serve as threat displays. Elephants can recognize low-amplitude sounds.
Reproduction
- Both sexes of Asian elephants reach maturity at 17. The average elephant life expectancy in the wild is 60 years and 80 years in captivity, though this has been exaggerated in the past.
- The Asian elephant has a generation length of 22 years. Females produce sex pheromones, and a key component of it, (Z)-7-dodecen-yl acetate, has also been identified as a sex pheromone in various insect species.
Threats
- The most severe threats to the Asian elephant are habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation, leading to increased conflict between humans and elephants.
- Asian elephants are killed for ivory and other items like meat and leather. Elephant skin is in great demand due to its increasing usage in traditional Chinese medicine.
Poaching: For Ivory
- The need for ivory in the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in East Asia, resulted in rampant poaching and a significant decline in elephant populations in Africa and Asia. The prohibited trade in live elephants and ivory continues to thrive in Thailand.
- Although the amount of openly sold ivory has decreased significantly since 2001, Thailand still has one of the world’s largest and most active black markets for ivory. Tusks from Thai poached elephants also entered the market; at least 24 male elephants were killed for their tusks between 1992 and 1997.
Poaching: For Skin
- The skin of the Asian elephant is utilized in Chinese medicine and the production of ornamental beads. China’s State Forestry Administration (SFA) has aided the practice by issuing licenses for manufacturing and selling pharmaceutical products containing elephant skin, making trading legal.
- Discovered four-skinned elephants in a Myanmar forest in 2010; poachers killed 26 elephants in 2013 and 61 in 2016. According to the NGO Elephant Family, the primary source of elephant skin is Myanmar, where a poaching crisis has been raging since 2010.
Handling Methods
- Young elephants are seized and illegally imported from Myanmar to Thailand for use in the tourism industry; calves are used in amusement parks and are taught to perform various tourist stunts.
- The calves are frequently subjected to a “breaking in” process, which may include being tied up, confined, starved, beaten, and tortured; consequently, two-thirds of them may die.
- Handlers use a trained crush technique, in which “handlers are sleep-deprived, famished, and thirsty to “break” the elephants’ spirit and make them subservient to their masters”; handlers also drive nails into the elephants’ ears and feet.
Disease
- Elephant endotheliotropic herpesviruses are a type of herpesvirus that, when transmitted to young Asian elephants, can cause a fatal hemorrhagic disease.
Conservation
- The Asian elephant is listed in CITES Appendix I. It is the definitive flagship species deployed to catalyze the capacity of conservation goals, including habitat conservation issues and mobilization as a famous cultural icon both in India and the West.
- Connectivity and preserving elephants’ preferred migration routes via places with high forest cover and “low human population density” are essential aspects of Asian elephant conservation.
- The World Elephant Dat is celebrated on 12 August 2012. Events are organized to divulge information and engage people about the problems that Asian elephant faces. August has been designated the Asian Elephant Awareness Mont by zoos and conservation partners in the United States.
Asian Elephant Worksheets
This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about asian elephants across 27 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Asian Elephant worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Asian elephants, which are the largest living terrestrial mammal in Asia. Three subspecies of this kind are found in Sri Lanka, India, and the Sumatra islands. They are social animals with a deep sense of altruism.
Complete List Of Included Worksheets
- Asian Elephant Facts
- EleFacts
- Elephant Skeletal System
- Types of Asian elephant
- Class Mammalia
- Asian Elephant World
- Elephan-trivia
- Fact or Bluff
- Scientific Classification
- Compare and Contrast
- Conservation Plan
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Asian Elephant?
The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), also recognized as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living species in the genus Elephas, and it ranges across the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west to Nepal in the north, Sumatra in the south, and Borneo in the east.
What is the distinct characteristic of the Asian elephant?
According to research, Asian elephants have intellectual capabilities for tool use and tool-making comparable to great apes. They demonstrate various behaviors associated with grief, learning, allomothering, mimicry, play, altruism, tool use, compassion, cooperation, self-awareness, memory, and language.
What are the sounds made by the Asian elephant?
Growls, squeaks, and snorts are the three basic sounds made by Asian elephants.
What is the disease that can be transmitted to young Asian elephants?
Elephant endotheliotropic herpesviruses are a type of herpesvirus that, when transmitted to young Asian elephants, can cause a fatal hemorrhagic disease.
How can we conserve the population of Asian elephants?
Connectivity and preserving elephants’ preferred migration routes via places with high forest cover and “low human population density” are essential aspects of Asian elephant conservation.
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Link will appear as Asian Elephant Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, June 27, 2018
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