Asian Elephants

Order: Proboscidea; Family: Elephantidae; Species: Elephas maximus (Asian elephant)
  • Asian elephants live in family-based herds led by the eldest female, a matriarch. Males will break away from the herd to breed, forage alone, and form transient bachelor herds.
  • Generally, only male Asian elephants have tusks. Females are either tuskless or have small tusks called tushes. 
  • With four sub-species of Asian elephants, each is more closely related to the extinct mammoth than their living African cousin. The four sub-species are the Bornean elephant (E.m. borneensis), mainland or Indian elephant (E.m. indicus), Sri Lankan elephant (E.m.maximus), and Sumatran elephant (E.m. sumatranus).
ADAPTATIONS
  • Ears: ​Asian elephants have smaller, rounder ears than African elephants as their environment is cooler, and they do not need to dissipate as much heat.
  • Head Shape and Trunk: Asian elephants have a double-domed head and one finger-like projection at the end of their trunks.
  • Skin: Asian elephants also have smoother skin than African elephants due to living in a cooler environment. They do not require as much surface area to retain moisture for evaporative cooling.
  • Teeth: Asian elephants have compressed, diamond-shaped teeth to accommodate their diet.
  • Social Dymamics: Herd sizes tend to be smaller than that of African elephants.
WHERE IN THE WORLD?
​Asian elephants live in isolated pockets of India and Southeast Asia. Forest-dwelling, their range has been highly fragmented due to habitat loss. Confined to the island of Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan Asian elephant live isolated off the southern coast of India. Similarly, Sumatran Asian elephants exclusively live on the island of Sumatra. Indian Asian elephants inhabit twelve Asian countries on the mainland of Asia. The smallest of the Asian elephant subspecies, the Bornean Asian elephant inhabits northeastern Borneo in Indonesia and Malaysia.
Asian elephant
Asian Elephants vs. African Elephants
As a result of over 50 million years of evolution, Asian elephants are considered more specialized compared to their primitive African counterparts. Despite similarities, including the possession of a trunk, large body size, and relatively large ears, African and Asian elephants are in two separate genera. Asian elephants are generally smaller with smoother skin. Asian elephants have smaller ears, a rounded back, and a twin-domed forehead. Whereas African elephants have two flexible ‘fingers’ at the tip of their trunk, Asian elephants only have one to accommodate their mostly grazing lifestyle.
African elephant
Quick Stats
Asian Elephants
​Weight: 6,000-14,000 pounds (2722-6350 kg)*
Height: 7-13 feet (2.1 m-3.9 m)*
Sexual Maturity: Around 12-14 years
Gestation Period: About 660 days
Number of Young: 1 calf. 2 calves have been documented (rare) 
Birth Interval: 3-5 years
Typical Diet: Primarily a browser in Southeast Asian forests
Life Expectancy: Up to 70 years with an average closer to 50 years
*subspecies dependent
Conservation
In 2019, the Internation Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) assessed Asian elephant populations and listed them as “Endangered” under criteria A2c for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Citing continued population size reduction and increasing habitat loss, the wild Asian elephant population is estimated between 40,000 and 52,000 individuals. The IUCN identifies challenges confronting Asian elephant conservation in most elephant Range States to be habitat loss and fragmentation, human-elephant conflict, and poaching and illegal trade of elephants.

For more information regarding the IUCN’s assessment of the Asian elephant wild population, click here .
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