Hobbies And Interests
Description
Asian elephants are large, broad mammals with wrinkled gray and sometimes pinkish skin. The elephant has a long, agile nose called a trunk with which it can perform complex tasks. It has large ears, which it can flap to help it cool down in hot weather.
Size
Asian elephants grow to between 6.6 and 9.8 feet in height at the shoulder, about 4 feet shorter than their African cousins, and up to 21 feet long. The massive animals can weigh between 4,500 and 11,000 lbs., around 3,000 less than the African variety.
Habitat
The elephants live in tropical and drier lowland forests as well as mountainous forests up to 10,000 feet above sea level. They also live in more open grasslands near forests, coming into contact with farmland occasionally and making them a target for angry farmers.
Range
The Asian elephant is found in isolated pockets in countries such as India, Burma, Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Throughout its range, the Asian elephant has four known sub-species: the Sri Lankan, Sumatran, Borneo and mainland. Of the four, the Sri Lankan is the largest, sometimes reaching heights of more than 11 feet.
Diet
The elephants are vegetarians and have to consume hundreds of pounds of plant matter daily. They use their dexterous trunks to pull grasses, branches and fruit toward their mouths. They use elongated teeth, known as tusks, to scrape bark from tree trunks, which is also a favorite food.
Life Cycle
Females and young elephants travel around in herds, while the adult males are solitary until mating season. The males come together with the herds for breeding and often will have to compete against other males for the right to breed. Once mating has occurred, pregnancies last 22 to 24 months with a single live offspring produced. In the wild, Asian elephants can live for up to 60 years.