Asian Elephant

CLASS: Mammalia
ORDER: Proboscidae
FAMILY: Elephantidae
GENUS & SPECIES: Elephas maximus
CLASSIFICATION:
There are two main species of elephant: Elephas maximus (the Asian elephant) and Loxodonta africana (the African elephant).
RANGE:
Historical: Iraq through Asia, south of Himalayas to northern China

Current: Indian subcontinent, Indochina, Malaysia, Indonesia, south China found in forests.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:

Length: 18 ft. - 21 ft.  
Height: 8.2 ft. - 9.8 ft. 
Weight: up to 11,000 lbs.

The elephant's gray skin is only 0.8 to 1.6 inches thick, and sparsely covered with hair. The skin does become pinkish white with age. The Asian elephant has 5 toes on the foreleg and 4 toes on each hind leg. The male elephant has internal testes.

DIET:
Zoo: 2-3 pails Purina Elephant supplement, oat hay, fresh bamboo browse (occasionally), apples, carrots, omolene, vitamin supplement.

Wild: Bamboo, grass, trees and shrubs.

BEHAVIOR:
Typically elephants are seen spraying water, and dirt on their back to keep cool and clean, as well as to rid themselves of insects. Elephants have a need to be by water, and are excellent swimmers. They often cross water ways by walking on the bottom and using their trunks as a snorkel.

Most of the time the elephants forage in the cool part of the day, and rest in the shade in the heat. Since they consume such a huge amount of food and they need to travel great distances, they create "elephant roads."

The herds are matriarchal with the oldest, most experienced female in charge, so that the herd may benefit from her accumulated knowledge of the home range. These herds usually consist of sisters and their offspring. They are very cooperative and protective of the group and will protect and care for the young. It is especially hard on the herd to lose the matriarch, because of her knowledge of food and water sources. Unfortunately, the oldest elephants are typically the ones targeted by poachers. The males will sometimes come together in bachelor herds, but these are usually a more loose association.

ADAPTATIONS: The most prominent adaptation is that of the upper lip and the nose into the trunk. This functions like a hand and in the Asian elephant has one finger-like projection on the top. The trunk has the ability to suck and spray water, manipulate objects and grasp and hold large, heavy objects.

The elephant skull has developed great size to support the massive trunk and the heavy dentition. Air spaces and sinuses fill the skull to make it lighter, and allow the elephant to communicate using a low growl referred to as an "infrasound" that carries for miles.

The huge ears act as radiators, to regulate temperature. Each ear contains many blood vessels, and the blood is cooled as the elephant flaps its ears.

The elephant has one molar on each side of each jaw, that grinds the plant material. The teeth are replaced by one of the six molars from the back as they push the worn teeth out the front. At age 60 the last set of teeth are usually worn out. To process its highly fibrous food the elephant makes use of a large cecum, which ferments the food and allows micro-organisms to aid in digestion. (The human cecum is greatly reduced and is called the appendix.) Still, only 50% of the food is digested - the rest is excreted unchanged, thus reseeding the home range.

BREEDING & GROWTH:

The gestation for an elephant is 22 months.
 
The longevity of an elephant in the wild is 60 years and 80 years in captivity. In the wild only 1/2 reach 15 years old, and 1/5 survive to be 30.

Males will go into "musth", a period where the testosterone level is high and the behavior is extremely aggressive. There is a swelling and secretion of the temporal gland. This sometimes signals an increase in breeding behavior. Males will compete for the chance to breed.

During the birth of a calf the members of the herd will gather around to help "midwife." The young is born weighing about 220 lbs., and nurses by mouth on one of the nipples located between the forelegs. The young will grow rapidly in the first few years of life, and will reach 2,200 lbs. by 6 years old. They will become sexually mature at about 10 years old, but the years 25-45 are the years of greatest fertility. Males are seldom large enough or strong enough to compete with other males for breeding until they are in their mid-twenties.

STATUS: Due to the slaughter of these animals to attain ivory, and the loss of their habitat, they are endangered, and a member of the SSP breeding program.

WOW!  Elephants can urinate 1 1/2  gallons at a time, and 15 galllon a day!