Asian Elephant
Elephas maximus
Asian elephants communicate over long distances using low-frequency infrasound rumbles that travel through the ground, which they detect using their sensitive feet.
- Scientific name
- Elephas maximus
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Chordata › Mammalia › Proboscidea › Elephantidae › Elephas
- IUCN Red List status
- Endangered
- Population trend
- decreasing
- Biome
- forest
- Habitat
- Tropical and subtropical broadleaf forests, moist deciduous forests, and grasslands.
- Diet
- Herbivorous, consuming grasses, tree bark, roots, leaves, and cultivated crops like bananas.
- Range
- India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Nepal
- Size
- 2.5 to 3 meters tall at the shoulder; weighs 3,000 to 5,000 kg
- Lifespan
- 60 to 70 years
- Active
- crepuscular
- Threats
- Habitat loss, fragmentation, human-elephant conflict, and poaching for ivory and skin.
- Safe to approach?
- Dangerous due to their immense size and defensive nature, especially mothers with calves or males in musth. Maintain a safe distance of at least 100 meters. If you encounter one, do not make sudden noises or flash lights. Back away slowly and quietly. If an elephant charges, seek shelter behind a sturdy barrier, climb a tree, or get inside a vehicle.
The Asian or Asiatic elephant ( Elephas maximus ) is the only living species of the genus Elephas and is distributed in Southeast Asia from India and Nepal in the west to Borneo in the east. Three subspecies are recognised— E. m. maximus from Sri Lanka, the E. m. indicus from mainland Asia, and E. m. sumatranus from the island of Sumatra. Asian elephants are the largest living land animals in Asia.
Photo: Morten Ross, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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