Asian Elephant Facts

  • According to the World Wildlife Fund for Nature, only 25,600 – 32,750 Asian elephants are left in the wild.
  • Asian elephants are smaller than African elephants.
  • Their height at the shoulder is usually 2-3m and weight ranges from 2,000-5,000kgs. A baby elephant can weigh 100kgs and stand 1m tall at birth.
  • Twice the circumference on an elephant’s front foot will equal its height at the shoulder.
  • Only some male Asian elephants have tusks, females have tushes which are large incisor teeth.
  • Asian elephants have one finger-like appendage on the end of their trunks. African elephants have two.
  • Wild elephants spend 18-20 hours a day foraging and eating.
  • They only need 4 of hours sleep per night.
  • Pregnancy may last up to 22 months and a baby may nurse for 3 years.
  • Females and babies live together in family groups averaging 6 to 7 adults.
  • Elephants mourn the death of another elephant.
  • They are very good swimmers.
  • An elephant’s life cycle is very similar to humans’ with their prime years being between 25 and 40.
  • Elephants can live into their seventies, and there are even a few cases of elephants living into their eighties.
  • Mature male elephants experience musth, usually once per year for a period of a few weeks. In this period, characterized by high testosterone levels, elephants may become aggressive and sometimes more sexually active.
  • During musth, a gland above the eye creates an oily secretion called temporin which can be seen running down the face.
  • Asian elephants are more closely related to the extinct mammoth than their African cousins.
  • Like humans, apes, and dolphins, elephants can recognize themselves in mirrors.