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| SCIENTIFIC
CLASSIFICATION |
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| COMMON
NAME: |
Asian
elephant, Indian elephant |
| KINGDOM: |
Animalia |
| PHYLUM: |
Chordata |
| CLASS: |
Mammalia |
| ORDER: |
Proboscidea |
| FAMILY: |
Elephantidae |
| GENUS
SPECIES: |
Elephas
(elephant) maximus (largest) |
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| DESCRIPTION: |
Huge
thick-skinned herbivore with fan-shaped ears and
a long trunk, with a single finger-like projection
at the tip, which originates between two forward
projecting incisors that extend to the ground |
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| SIZE: |
2.4-3.1
m (8-10 ft.) at the shoulder |
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| WEIGHT: |
2700-5000
kg (6000-11000 lb.); females are smaller |
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| DIET: |
Consumes
plants including grasses, fruits, vegetables, leaves,
and bark which it gathers with its long trunk |
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| SEXUAL
MATURITY: |
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| MALE |
10-14
years (bulls) |
| FEMALE |
8-9
years (cows) |
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| RANGE: |
Southeast
Asia, Sri Lanka, and Sumatra |
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| HABITAT: |
Forests,
adjoining grasslands, and scrub |
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| POPULATION: |
GLOBAL |
No
data |
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| STATUS: |
IUCN |
Endangered |
| CITES |
Appendix
I |
| USFWS |
Endangered |
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| 1. |
The
elephant's ivory tusks are incisors used for digging,
uprooting trees and displaying. |
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| 2. |
The
dominant elephant in the herd is a female, the matriarch.
She is often the oldest, largest or most experienced
elephant in the herd of related females and their
young. |
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| 3. |
An
infant elephant is cared for by its mother and other
females called "aunties" in the herd. |
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| 4. |
Elephants
can use low frequency sound waves for communication
between members of the herd and individuals outside
the herd. These sounds may carry for distances of
up to 10 miles. |
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Asian
elephants have adapted to their environment as
it changed over vast periods of time. Today they
still interact with and shape their environment.
Their foraging activities help to maintain the
areas in which they live. by pulling down trees
to eat leaves, branches, and roots they create
clearings in which new young trees and other vegetation
grow to provide future nutrition for elephants
and other organisms. Elephant trails through the
brush are paths that other animals can use. Termites
eat elephant feces and often begin construction
of termite mounds under piles of feces!
The
Asian elephants' forest homes are being ravaged
today because of commercial demand for forest
derived products such as coffee, tea, rubber,
and hardwoods. Crop cultivation, mining for iron
ore, and flooding by hydroelectric projects have
also acted to diminish the large tracts of land
required by elephants for adequate food supplies.
Only about 35,000-40,000 Asian elephants survive
today throughout a discontinuous range in southeast
Asia.
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| Eisenberg,
J.F., McKay, G.M., and Seidensticker, J. Asian
Elephants. Washington, DC: Friends of the National
Zoo and National Zoological Park, 1990. |
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|
Shoshani,
J., Ph.D., Editor. Elephants Majestic Creatures
of the Wild Emaus, PA: Rodale Press, 1992.
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| Whitney,
L.P. The Unforgettable Elephant. New York:
Walker and Company, 1980. |
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