Asian Elephants
Ecology
Physical Description
Young orphan Sumatran elephant in the Minas elephants' camp. Tesso Nilo, Riau Province, Sumatra, Indonesia
© Volker KESS / WWF
The Asian elephant is the largest terrestrial mammal in Asia. It is smaller than the African elephant (Loxodonta Africana), with relatively smaller ears, and the head, not the shoulder, is the highest part of the body. Asian elephants have a single "finger" on the upper lip of the trunk, while African elephants have a second on the lower tip.
A significant number of adult males are without tusks, and the percentage of males carrying ivory varies by region (possibly reflecting the intensity of past ivory hunting), from only about 5 percent in Sri Lanka to 90 percent in Southern India. Females have small tusks, which seldom show.
Asian elephants are almost hairless, with only a few sparse bristles. The skin color of Asian elephants is dark grey to brown, with patches of pink on the forehead, the ears, the base of the trunk and chest. They keep their ears in constant motion in order to radiate the heat they generate and therefore cool themselves. The species are reported to have well-developed hearing, vision and sense of smell. The total body length of Asian elephants ranges from 18 to 21 feet with shoulder height from 8 to 10 feet. Males can weigh up to 5 tons.
More on the Ecology of the Asian Elephant
Diet
Asian elephants eat around 661 pounds per day. Most of the day can be spent feeding on grasses, tree bark, roots, twigs, leaves and small stems. Cultivated crops such as bananas, rice and sugarcane are also favored foods which lead to potential conflicts with humans.
When grasses are too short to be picked up with its trunk, the elephant scrapes the ground with its forefeet until a loose pile of grasses is formed, then sweeps the pile into its mouth with its trunk.
Reproduction
Asian elephants live in herds based on breeding groups of 3 to 40 females and young. Herds form part of larger related groupings called clans. Mature males live alone or in small groups and have no permanent ties with the females or with each other. Sexual maturity is reached at about 10 years of age, although males become sexually active much later. Usually, a single calf is born every four to five years after a gestation period of 22 months. Females can remain fertile until they are 55-60 years old.
