Scientific Name:
Elephas maximus
Distribution
Isolated parts of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, S China, Laos, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Diet:
Herbivores, eating mainly grasses, but also scrub, bark, rice crops, fruits and leaves. The average daily intake of food is 150 kilograms of vegetation a day.
Facts
Habitat: Grasslands, various forest types
Gestation: 22 months, 1 young.
Social structure: 1-7 animals. Males are usually solitary. Females form groups of related animals, led by the oldest female.
Weight: male up to 6,000kg, female up to 4,160kg
Dimensions: length up to 6.40m, height up to 3.40m
Estimated population in the wild: 40,000-50,000
Lifespan: 60-70 years in the wild
Threats: Habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation (due to expanding human population, leading to conflicts between humans and elephants, with hundreds of people and elephants killed annually), poaching for their meat and skin.
IUCN Status: Εndandered
Did you know that:
- They communicate via rumbles, bellows, and moans. They also emit low-frequency infrasounds that can travel several kilometers.
- Females and some males do not have tusks, thus, poaching poses a lesser threat.
- Elephants may spend up to 19 hrs/day feeding, consuming up to 150kg of food.
- They defecate about 16-18 times a day, producing about 100kg of dung.
Elephants in Asian Culture
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