Asian Elephant The Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) is largest land mammal on Earth, slightly smaller than its cousin the African Elephant. The Asian elephant is considered to the a single species, Elephas maximus with four subspecies, these include the “E.m. hirsute (Malaylan elephant), E.m. indicus (Indian elephant), E.m. maximus (Sri Lankan elephant), and E.m. sumatranus ( Sumatran elephant) (Asian Elephants, n.d). Asian Elephants have been domesticated for thousands of years doing hard labor. Additionally, elephant-like animals have roamed the Earth for the past 55 million years. Today, the last remaining members of the order Proboscideal remain: the Asian elephant and the African elephant. It is believed the mammoth and the American
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They occur in grassland, tropical evergreen forest, semi-evergreen forest, moist deciduous forest, dry deciduous forests, and dry thorn forest (KAJAYSRI, J., & NOKKAEW, W., 2014). The average life span of the Asian elephant is approximately 50 years including captivate and wild Asian elephants. Furthermore, Asian elephants are large gray animals, the coloration conceals them. Elephants trunks are very unique and important part. An elephants trunk inhibits more than 100,000 muscles. They use it to breathe, pick things up, make sound, drink and smell. According to the World Wildlife Fund, elephants tend to be right-tusked or left-tusked. The dominant tusk is easy to identify, because it will be more worn down on one side. Asian elephants have smaller ears that are rounded on the top and flat on the bottom. The ears act as a cooling mechanism as they radiate heat …show more content…
Females (cows) usually give birth to one calf (baby elephant) at a time every 2 to 4 years. As the calf grow it will gain 2 to 3 pounds everyday until it is one year old. When the calves reach 2 or 3 years old the mother begins to wean them. Female elephants become sexually mature around 14 years. Male elephants are sexually mature when they are around 14 also. Males around the age of 20 first come into musth “an extreme state of arousal in which highly elevated testosterone levels causing aggressive behavior and an increase in sexual activity” (EDGE of Existence, n.d.). Furthermore, since the Asian elephant is on the endangered species list there are major anthropogenic threats this species faces. Pre-eminent threats to the Asian elephant are habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation. We can conclude that humans are now moving and expanding into their territory. Poaching in another threat elephants must face. Elephants are poached for a number of reasons. For example, meat, tusks (ivory), and leather. Even though poaching is illegal it still happens and is a major problem within the elephant community (Elephas maximus, n.d.). In conclusion, the Asian elephant is an endangered species and still being killed for their meat, ivory, and leather. Asian elephants are also very social among their own species. They do not always interact well with human. These are
They occur in grassland, tropical evergreen forest, semi-evergreen forest, moist deciduous forest, dry deciduous forests, and dry thorn forest (KAJAYSRI, J., & NOKKAEW, W., 2014). The average life span of the Asian elephant is approximately 50 years including captivate and wild Asian elephants. Furthermore, Asian elephants are large gray animals, the coloration conceals them. Elephants trunks are very unique and important part. An elephants trunk inhibits more than 100,000 muscles. They use it to breathe, pick things up, make sound, drink and smell. According to the World Wildlife Fund, elephants tend to be right-tusked or left-tusked. The dominant tusk is easy to identify, because it will be more worn down on one side. Asian elephants have smaller ears that are rounded on the top and flat on the bottom. The ears act as a cooling mechanism as they radiate heat …show more content…
Females (cows) usually give birth to one calf (baby elephant) at a time every 2 to 4 years. As the calf grow it will gain 2 to 3 pounds everyday until it is one year old. When the calves reach 2 or 3 years old the mother begins to wean them. Female elephants become sexually mature around 14 years. Male elephants are sexually mature when they are around 14 also. Males around the age of 20 first come into musth “an extreme state of arousal in which highly elevated testosterone levels causing aggressive behavior and an increase in sexual activity” (EDGE of Existence, n.d.). Furthermore, since the Asian elephant is on the endangered species list there are major anthropogenic threats this species faces. Pre-eminent threats to the Asian elephant are habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation. We can conclude that humans are now moving and expanding into their territory. Poaching in another threat elephants must face. Elephants are poached for a number of reasons. For example, meat, tusks (ivory), and leather. Even though poaching is illegal it still happens and is a major problem within the elephant community (Elephas maximus, n.d.). In conclusion, the Asian elephant is an endangered species and still being killed for their meat, ivory, and leather. Asian elephants are also very social among their own species. They do not always interact well with human. These are