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{{Taxobox
[[Image:Shanthi.jpg]]{{Taxobox
| color = pink
| color = blue
| name = Asian Elephant<ref name=MSW>{{MSW3 Shoshani|pages=90}}</ref>
| name = Asian Elephant<ref name=MSW>{{MSW3 Shoshani|pages=90}}</ref>
| status = EN
| status = EN

Revision as of 22:53, 27 March 2007

Asian Elephant[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Order:
Proboscidea
Family:
Elephantidae
Genus:
Elephas
Species:
E. maximus
Binomial name
Elephas maximus
Linnaeus, 1758
Asian Elephant range

The Asian or Asiatic Elephant (Elephas maximus), sometimes known by the name of its nominate subspecies (the Indian Elephant), is one of the three living species of elephant, and the only living species of the genus Elephas. The species is found primarily in large parts of India, Sri Lanka, Indochina and parts of Indonesia. It is smaller than its African relatives, and the easiest way to distinguish the two are the smaller ears of the Asian Elephant. The Asian Elephant tends to grow to around two to four meters (7–12 feet) in height and 3,000–5,000 kilograms (6,500–11,000 pounds) in weight.

The Asian Elephant has other differences from its African relatives, including a more arched back than the African, one semi-prehensile "finger" at the tip of its trunk as opposed to two, 4 nails on each hind foot instead of three, and 19 pairs of ribs instead of 21. Also, unlike with the African elephant, the female Asian Elephant usually lacks tusks; if tusks--in that case called "tushes"--are present, they are barely visible and only seen when the female opens its mouth. Some males may also lack tusks; these individuals are called "makhnas" and especially common among the Sri Lankan elephant population. Furthermore, the forehead has two hemispherical bulges unlike the flat front of the African elephant.

This animal is widely domesticated, and has been used in forestry in South and Southeast Asia for centuries and also in ceremonial purposes. Historical sources point out that they were sometimes used during the harvest season primarily for milling. Wild elephants attract tourist money to the areas where they can most readily be seen, but damage crops and may enter villages to raid gardens.

Behaviour

Elephant herds in the wild follow well defined seasonal migration routes. These are made around the monsoon seasons, often between the wet and dry zones, and it is the task of the eldest to remember and follow the traditional migration routes. When human farms are founded in these old routes there is often considerable damage done to crops and it is common for elephants to be killed in the ensuing conflicts.

Elephants live on average for 60 years in the wild and 80 in captivity.[3] They eat 10% of their body weight each day, which is for adults between 170-200 kilograms of food per day. They need 80–200 litres of water a day and use more for bathing. They sometimes scrape the soil for minerals.

Elephants use infrasound to communicate; this was first noted by the Indian naturalist M. Krishnan and later studied by Katherine Payne.[4]

Female behaviour

Female elephants live in small groups. They have a matriarchal society and the group is led by the oldest female. The herd consists of relatives. An individual reaches sexual maturity at 9-15 years of age. The gestation period is 18–22 months and the female gives birth to one calf and rarely twins. The calf is fully developed by the 19th month but stays in the womb to grow so that it can reach its mother to nurse. The calf weighs about 100 kg (220 lb), and is suckled for up to 2–3 years. Females stay on with the herd, but males are chased away.

Male behaviour

Bull elephants are usually solitary and they fight over females during the breeding season. Younger bulls may form small groups. Males reach sexual maturity during their 15th year, after which they annually enter "musth". This is a period where the testosterone level is high (up to 60 times greater) and they become extremely aggressive. Secretions containing pheromones occur during this period, from the temporal glands on the forehead. Also, males do not penetrate when copulating. After mounting the female they will ejaculate on the female and the sperm will then make its way to the uterus.[citation needed] Many times when a mate cannot be found, the male elephant will display homosexual behavior.

Danger of elephants

An animal of this size is potentially dangerous. Care should be taken when walking or driving at night or in the late evening in areas where wild elephants roam. Particularly, potential meetings with unpredictable adult males, or females with nearby young, are best avoided. The most dangerous are aggressive, so-called rogue elephants which are usually young solitary bulls.

In history and religion

The elephant plays an important part in the culture of the subcontinent and beyond featuring prominently in Jataka tales and the Panchatantra. It is also quite venerated and the "blessings" of a temple elephant is sought by Hindus as Lord Ganesha's head is made up of an elephant. It has been used in majestic processions in Kerala where the pachyderms are adorned with festive outfits. They were used by almost all armies in India as war elephants, terrifying opponents unused to the massive beast.

Subspecies

Asian Elephant trunk

Elephas maximus is the only surviving species in the Elephas genus; Elephas recki, an even larger species, is extinct.

There are four subspecies of Asian elephant:

The population in Vietnam and Laos is undergoing tests to determine if it is a fifth subspecies.

E. m. indicus survives in separate ranges in southern India, the Himalayan foothills, and northwest India; it is also found in southern China, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and the Malaysian peninsula. Most males of this subspecies have tusks.
E. m. maximus is only found in Sri Lanka. It has a larger skull relative to body size, and commonly has a decolourised area of skin on the forehead and the front of the upper trunk. It is rare to find even males with tusks. Males can reach a height of 3.5 metres at the shoulder.
E. m. sumatrensis is only found in Sumatra. It is the second smallest subspecies, between 1.7 to 2.6 metres at the shoulder. It is sometimes called the pocket elephant because of its size.
E. m. borneensis is found in north Borneo (east Sabah and extreme north Kalimantan). It is smaller than all the other subspecies. It has larger ears, a longer tail, and straighter tusks. Genetic tests found that its ancestors separated from the mainland population about 300,000 years ago.[5]

The extinct Chinese population is sometimes separated as E. m. rubridens (Pink-tusked Elephant); it disappeared after the 14th century BC. The Syrian population, a separate subspecies, largest subspecies of Asian Elephant (E. m. asurus), disappeared around 100 BC.

Cited references

  1. ^ Shoshani, J. (2005). Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  2. ^ Template:IUCN2006 Listed as Endangered (EN A1cd v2.3)
  3. ^ "Asian Elephant - Animal facts" (HTML). Retrieved 2006-06-21.
  4. ^ Payne, Katherine (1998). Silent Thunder. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-80108-6.
  5. ^ Fernando P, Vidya TNC, Payne J, Stuewe M, Davison G, et al. (2003) DNA Analysis Indicates That Asian Elephants Are Native to Borneo and Are Therefore a High Priority for Conservation. PLoS Biol 1(1): e6 Full text

Other references

  • Bandara, Ranjith and Clem Tisdell (2004). "The net benefit of saving the Asian elephant a policy and contingent valuation study". Ecological Economics. 48 (1).

See also

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Elephas maximus.
Wikispecies has information related to Elephas maximus.

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