The Asian elephant can weigh up to 5400 kg (11,900 lb). It
currently occupies forested habitats in hilly or mountainous terrain, up to
about 3600 m (11,800'). An adult eats approximately 150 kg (330 lb) per day -
mainly grasses but also leaves, twigs and bark. It feeds during the morning,
evening and night and rests during the middle of the day, requiring shade
during the hot season to keep from overheating. Elephants cannot go for long
without water (they require 70-90 liters (19-24 gal) of fluid/day) and sometimes
must travel long distances each day between their water supplies and feeding
areas.
One calf is born every 3-4 years after a pregnancy lasting
about 22 months. Although mature male elephants may live alone, females live in
family groups consisting of mothers, daughters and sisters, together with
immature males. Wild elephants can live to be sixty years old.
The Asian elephant once ranged from the Tigrisand EuphratesRiversin ancient Mesopotamia in the west, east through Asiasouth of the Himalaya to Indochinaand the Malay Peninsula, including Sri
Lanka and Sumatra and
possibly Java, and north into Chinaat least as far as the Yangtze River. In the 19th
century it was still common over much of the Indian subcontinent, Sri
Lanka and the eastern parts of its range. By
1978, Asian elephants were found in the same countries as they are at present.
Technological advances, together with other factors
associated with colonialism, led in most countries to a drastic crash in
elephant numbers during the 19th century. (Olivier 1978) "With the spread
of civilization and growth of population, the area under cultivation for the
production of food has rapidly extended during recent decades. Consequently the
former feeding-grounds of wild elephants have diminished,..." (Gee 1950)
After the introduction of firearms to Sri Lankaaround 1950, cultivators killed more than 300 elephants in seven years to
protect their crops. (Morgan-Davies 1958)
Female Asian elephants are not affected by ivory poaching
(due to their lack of tusks), so poaching has not affected the overall
population numbers of Asian elephants as drastically as it has in the case of
the African elephant. The single most important cause of the decline of the
Asian elephant has been the loss of habitat. They have also been affected by
persecution due to the crop damage they are perceived to cause.
Tidbits
*** The Asian elephant has been domesticated for centuries;
it is intelligent and docile when well treated.
*** In 1879, Indiapassed the Elephants' Preservation Act. This act decreed that no wild elephant
shall be killed or captured unless in a person's self-defense, or because of
damage being caused. The basis for this law was the importance of the service
elephants provided to mankind.
*** "The valuable stock of wild elephants must not be
allowed to shrink below a specified danger-level; for it seems to be a law of
nature that should any wild animal or bird become increasingly rare, it
eventually becomes extinct..." (Gee 1950)
*** The Asian elephant is distinguished from the African
elephant in that the Asian elephant has considerably smaller ears, the forehead
is flat and the top of the head is the highest point of the animal. In the
African elephant, the ears are large, the forehead is more convex, and the back
more sloping, so the shoulders are the highest point. Both sexes of the African
elephant have tusks, while female Asian elephants do not have tusks.
*** Elephants respond favorably to slash-and-burn
agriculture, selective logging, and bamboo extraction, if these are done at a
sustained-yield level, because early successional forest is maintained.
Consequently, elephant management is compatible with long-term multiple use of
forests. (Humphrey & Bain 1990)
*** The existence of a race of "giant" elephants,
about 0.3 m (1') taller than other Asian elephants, has been confirmed in the
forests of northern Nepal.
As few as 100 of these elephants, which may be a subspecies of Elephas maximus,
may survive. (Oryx 1997)
[Note: Figures
given are for wild populations only.]
* WORLD
o 1900: Perhaps 200,000 (Chadwick 1991)
o Late
1970's: 25,000 - 36,000 (Humphrey & Bain 1990)
o 1978:
28,000 - 42,000 (Olivier 1978)
o 1983:
30,000 - 40,000 (Oryx 1983)
o 1984:
Fewer than 50,000 (Macdonald 1984)
o 1990:
34,000 - 56,000 (Sukumar 1990)
o 1991:
30,000 - 55,000 (Oryx 1991c)
o 1995: No
more than 50,000 (Anon. 1995i)
o 1997:
35,000 - 50,000 (Focus 1997e)
o 2003:
30,000 - 40,000 (Zoogoer 2003)
o 2005: 35,000 - 50,000 (Focus 2005)
* Bangladesh
o 1982: 282
- 348 (Gittins & Akonda 1982)
o 1990: 200
- 350 (Sukumar 1990)
* Bhutan
o 1997: 60 -
150 (Focus 1997e)
* Borneo
o 1997: 500
- 2000 (Focus 1997e)
* Cambodia
o 1997: 1000
- 2000 (Focus 1997e)
* China
o 1978: 100
(Olivier 1978)
o 1990:
About 250 (Sukumar 1990)
o 1993: Less
than 500 (Xiang & Santiapillai 1993)
o 1997: 250
- 350 (Focus 1997e)
* India
"Some
people may ask what the population is of wild elephants in India.
I think that no census has ever been done [before], but occasionally estimates
are made by Forest Officers in the States in which they occur." (Gee 1964)
(Emphasis added)
o 1964: 7000
(Gee 1964)
o 1978:
9,900 - 15,000 (Olivier 1978)
o 1983:
15,000 (Oryx 1983)
o 1990:
17,000 - 22,000 (Sukumar 1990)
o 1997:
20,000 - 24,000 (Focus 1997e)
* Indonesia
o 1929: 3000
(Sumatra) (Olivier 1978)
o 1978: 300
(Sumatra) (Olivier 1978)
o 1990: 2800
- 4800 (Sumatra) (Sukumar 1990)
o 1995: 3000
- 5000 (Sumatra) (Anon. 1995h)
o 2000: 2800
- 4800 (Sumatra) (Nyhus et al. 2000)
* Laos
o 1997: 1000
- 3000 (Focus 1997e)
* Malaysia
o 1963: 692
(Peninsular Malaysia)
(Oryx 1969b)
o 1968: 486
(Peninsular Malaysia)
(Oryx 1969b)
o 1978: 3000
- 6000 (Peninsular Malaysia)
(Olivier 1978)
o 1990: 1000
(Peninsular Malaysia)
(Sukumar 1990)
o 1997: 800
- 1000 (Peninsular Malaysia)
(Focus 1997e)
* Myanmar
o 1935:
10,000 (Gee 1950)
o 1978: 5000
(Olivier 1978)
o 1980: 5200
- 7200 (Oryx 1980b)
o 1990: 3000
- 10,000 ("...all estimates are purely subjective, due to the
inaccessibility of the country to outsiders") (Sukumar 1990)
o 1997: 4150
(Martin & Vigne 1997)
o 1997: 5000
- 6000 (Focus 1997e)
* Nepal
o 1978: 50
(Olivier 1978)
o 1980: 22 -
25 (Oryx 1980b)
o 1991: 30 -
50 (Oryx 1991b)
o 1997: 50 -
85 (Focus 1997e)
* Sri
Lanka
o Early
1800's: 12,000 (Oryx 1974)
o 1950: Not much in excess of 1000
(Morgan-Davies 1958)
o 1963: 1000
- 1500 (IUCN 1966)
o 1964: 1650
(Gee 1964)
o 1968: At
least 2500 (Oryx 1969)
o 1971: 1600
- 2200 (Oryx 1977)
o 1974: 2150
(Oryx 1974)
o 1977: May
number 4-5000 (Oryx 1977)
o 1978: 2 -
4000 (Olivier 1978)
o 1990: 3000
(Sukumar 1990)
o 1997: 2500
- 3000 (Focus 1997e)
o 1999:
About 4000 (Santiapillai et al. 1999)
o 2000:
Fewer than 3500 (Corea 2000)
* Thailand
o 1978: 2600
- 4450 (Oryx 1978)
o 1978: 2500
- 4500 (Olivier 1978)
o 1980:
"Guesstimate" of over 4000 (Oryx 1980b)
o 1990: 3000
- 4500 (Sukumar 1990)
o 1992: 750
- 1055 (Oryx 1992c)
o 1997: 1500
- 3000 (Focus 1997e)
* Vietnam
o 1997: 300
- 400 (Focus 1997e)
o 2000:
Fewer than 150 (Fauna & Flora News 2000)
o 2002:
Fewer than 60 ("ecologically extinct")(Fauna & Flora 2002)
History of
Distribution:
The species once ranged from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
in ancient Mesopotamia (45 deg East) in the west, east through Asia south of
the Himalaya to Indochina and the Malay Peninsula, including Sri Lanka and
Sumatra and possibly Java, and north into China at least as far as the Yangtze
River (30 deg North). In the 19th century it was still common over much of the
Indian subcontinent, Sri Lankaand the eastern parts of its range. By 1978, Asian elephants were found in the
same countries as they are at present.
Distribution Map #1 (4 Kb GIF) (The Wild Ones) (Countries
where the Asian elephant occurs)
Distribution Map #2 (3 Kb GIF) (Yokohama Zoo) (Specific
areas where the Asian elephant occurs)
Threats and Reasons
for Decline:
With the advent of colonial regimes from Europe,
the elephant was put under pressure in areas which were otherwise unlikely to
have been developed at that time. Thus technological advances, together with
other factors associated with colonial aims and attitudes, led in most
countries to a drastic crash in elephant numbers during the 19th century.
(Olivier 1978) "With the spread of civilization and growth of population,
the area under cultivation for the production of food has rapidly extended
during recent decades. Consequently the former feeding-grounds of wild
elephants have diminished,..." (Gee 1950) After the introduction of
firearms to Sri Lankaaround 1950, cultivators killed more than 300 elephants in seven years to
protect their crops. (Morgan-Davies 1958) "Habitats were lost owing to
drainage and deforestation measures and populations also declined as the
elephants were hunted, shot or captured." (Schumacher 1967)
Female Asian elephants are not affected by ivory poaching
(due to their lack of tusks), so poaching has not affected the overall
population numbers of Asian elephants as drastically as it has in the case of
the African elephant. However, the poaching of males in some Asian elephant
populations has resulted in a highly skewed male:female ratio which can have
serious demographic and genetic consequences. (Sukumar et al. 1998) The single
most important cause of the decline of the Asian elephant has been the loss of
habitat. (Sukumar 1990) Through the 1970's, elephant populations continued to
undergo habitat encroachment and fragmentation, and in the planning stages of
development programs little consideration was given to elephants or other
wildlife. (Olivier 1978) In summary, reasons for decline include persecution of
wild elephants due to the crop damage they are perceived to cause, hunting
(mainly for ivory but also for meat) and habitat loss due to expanding human
population and the loss of forests in Asia.
Data on Biology and Ecology
Weight:
Females average
2720 kg (5980 lb). Large bulls weigh 5400 kg (11,900 lb) (Nowak 1999).
Habitat:
The Asian elephant
currently occupies forested habitats in hilly or mountainous terrain, up to
about 3600 m (11,800'). It is adaptable and can occur in a wide range of habitats,
from thick jungles to grassy plains.
The Asian elephant
lives in both the Himalaya, Indo-Burma, Mountains of Southwest China, Sundaland
and Western Ghats and Sri Lanka Biodiversity Hotspots (Cons. Intl. 2005) as
well as the Peninsular Malaysian Lowland & Montane Forests, Northern
Indochina Subtropical Moist Forests, Sri Lankan Moist Forests,
Kayah-Karan/Tenasserim Moist Forests, Western Ghats Moist Forests, Annamite
Range Moist Forests, Eastern Indochina Dry & Monsoon Forests, and Eastern
Indian Monsoon Forests Global 200 Ecoregions. (Olson & Dinerstein 1998,
Olson & Dinerstein 1999)
Age to Maturity:
Female Asian
elephants attain sexual maturity when 9-12 years old. Males are capable of
reproduction at 10-17 years, but they are still too young to dominate older
females and do not significantly contribute to reproduction. Sexual maturity
may be delayed for several years during drought or periods of high population
density.
Gestation Period:
Approximately 22
months.
Birth Rate:
One calf is born
at a time. A female may produce a calf every 3 - 4 years, although this period
may be extended when conditions are unfavorable for survival, such as during
drought.
Fecundity: Age 0 -
15: 0.0 (births/female/year); age 16 - 50: 0.225 (births/female/year); age 51 -
60: 0.20 (births/female/year) (Sukumar et al. 1998).
Early Development:
There is a long
period of juvenile dependency. The infant suckles for 3 - 4 years.
Dispersal:
Young males appear
to leave the family group and become solitary at about the time they become
sexually mature.
Maximum Reproductive
Age:
The period of greatest
female fecundity is between 25-45 years.
Maximum Age:
Sixty years in the
wild (more than 80 years in captivity).
Diet:
The Asian elephant
eats grasses and small amounts of leaves, woody parts of trees and shrubs -
twigs, branches and bark. Cultivated crops, such as bananas, paddy and sugar
cane are also preferred, with the result that the elephant often becomes a pest
in agricultural regions. It will also eat large quantities of flowers and
fruits when these are available and will dig for roots, including bamboo.
Social Organization:
The Asian elephant
is gregarious, and, although males sometimes live alone, females are always
found in family groups consisting of mothers, daughters, sisters and immature
males. In the 19th century, these family groups usually consisted of 30 - 50
animals, but much larger groups, as large as 100 individuals, were not
uncommon. Sometimes an adult male can be associated with a herd. When not,
adult males usually remain solitary and disperse over relatively small, widely
overlapping home ranges; sometimes they gather together in small but temporary
bull herds. They do not seem to be territorial, and there is a great amount of
toleration between them, except possibly when the cows are in estrus.
