For other uses, see Elephant (disambiguation). ? Elephants African (Savannah) Elephant reaching for leaves, in Kenya Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Subphylum: Vertabrata Class: Mammalia Order: Proboscidea Family: Elephantidae Gray, 1821 Genera and Species Loxodonta Loxodonta cyclotis Loxodonta africana Elephas Elephas maximus Elephas recki † Stegodon † Mammuthus † Elephantidae (the elephants) is a family of animals, and the only remaining family in the order Proboscidea. Elephantidae has three living species: the Savannah Elephant and Forest Elephant (which were collectively known as the African Elephant) and the Asian Elephant (formerly known as the Indian Elephant). Other species have become extinct since the last ice age, which ended about 10,000 years ago. Elephants are the largest land animals and largest land mammals alive today. At birth it is common for an elephant calf to weigh 120 kg (265 lb). It takes 20 to 22 months for a baby elephant to mature to birth, the longest gestation period of any land animal. An elephant may live as long as 70 years. The largest elephant ever recorded was shot in Angola in 1974. It was male and weighed 12,000 kilograms (26,400 lb). The smallest elephants, about the size of a calf or a large pig, were a pre-historic variant that lived on the island of Crete until 5000 BC, possibly 3000 BC. Their scattered skulls, featuring a single large trunk-hole at the front, formed the basis of belief in existence of cyclops, one-eyed giants, which are featured in Homer's Odyssey. Prehistoric human beings have been known to eat elephants, as recent findings of animal remains in central China show. The elephant is now a protected animal, and consumption is prohibited around the world. Contents 1 Zoology 1.1 The African Elephant 1.2 Asian Elephant 1.3 Body characteristics 1.4 Evolution 1.5 Varieties 1.6 Diet 1.7 Social behavior 1.8 Reproduction 1.9 Motherhood and calf rearing 2 Usefulness to the environment 3 Habitat Loss 3.1 National Parks 3.2 Deforestation 3.3 Overgrazing 3.4 Overhunting 3.5 Asia's dwindling habitat 3.6 Sri Lanka 3.7 Southeast Asia 4 Man and Elephants 4.1 Harvest from the Wild 4.2 Domestication and use 4.3 The Elephant Trap 4.4 Elephants in Culture 4.4.1 Pop culture 4.4.2 Religion 4.4.3 Politics and secular Symbolism 4.5 Elephant rage 5 See also 6 References 7 Footnotes 8 External links Zoology The African Elephant The Loxodonta africana, or the African elephant, is found in several regions throughout the continent after which it is named. In recent years, Loxondonta has received the attention of the world because of its dwindling numbers. Today there are approximately 600,000 African elephants in the world. Some believe this represents a stable population and that measures to protect them are unnecessary. Others argue that while elephants are locally overabundant in certain areas, it is impossible to ignore the fact that the overall population has dropped by a staggering amount. As recently as 1979 there were an estimated 1.3 million African elephants. This decline is attributed primarily to poaching, or illegal hunting, and habitat loss. African elephants are distinguished from Asians in several ways. The most noticeable difference is the ears. Africans' ears are much larger and are shaped like the continent of their origin. The African elephant is typically larger than the Asian and has a concave back. Both males and females have external tusks and are usually less hairy than their Asian cousins. Within the Loxodonta species, most scientists recognize two distinct subspecies, or races. The first is the bush African elephant (Loxodonta africana africana), the largest of all the elephants. In fact, it is the largest land animal in the world, standing on average thirteen feet at the shoulder and weighing approximately 15,400 pounds. Most often, bush elephants are found in open grasslands, marshes, and lakeshores. They range over most of Africa south of the Sahara Desert. The other, less numerous subspecies is the forest African elephant (Loxodonta africana cyclotis). Compared with the bush elephant, its ears are usually smaller and rounder, and its tusks are also thinner and straighter. The forest elephant can weigh up to ten thousand pounds and stand about ten feet tall. Much less is known about these animals than their bush cousins because environmental and political obstacles make them very difficult to study. Normally they inhabit the dense forests of central and western Africa, though occasionally they do inhabit the edges of forests and overlap territories with bush elephants. Asian Elephant Today scientists estimate the world population of Asian elephants, or Elephas maximus, to be approximately 40,000, less than one-tenth the number of African elephants. Perhaps the Asian elephants' decline has been less noticeable because it has been more gradual. The causes of this decline are much the same as that of the African. As with the Loxodonta, there are distinct subspecies of Elephas maximus. In general, the Asian elephant is smaller than the African. It has smaller ears, shaped like the subsontinent of India, and typically only the males have large external tusks. An Asian elephant can also be distinguished by the large bulges of depigmentation on the skin. The first subspecies is the Sri Lankan Asian elephant (Elephas maximus maximus). Found only on the island of Sri Lanka, a small country off the southeast coast of India, it is the largest of the Asians. According to University of Bombay's J. C. Daniel, there are an estimated total of 35,000 members of this subspecies left today. Large males can weigh upward to 12,000 pounds and stand over 11 feet tall. Sri Lankan males have very large cranial bulges, and both sexes have more areas of depigmentation than are found in the other Asians. typically their ears, face, trunk, and belly have large concentrations of pink-speckled skin. Another subspecies, the mainland Asian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) makes up the buld of the Asian elephant population. Numbering approximately 36,000, these elephants are lighter gray in colour, with depigmentation only on the ears and trunk. Large males will ordinarily weigh only about 11,000 pounds but are as tall as the Sri Lankan. The mainland Asian can be found in 12 Asian countries, from india to Indonesia. It prefers forested areas and transitional zones, between forests and grasslands, where greater food variety is available. The smallest of all the elephants is the Sumatran Asian elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus). Population estimates for this group range from 33,000 to 53,000 individuals. It is very light gray and has less depigmentation than the other Asians, with pink spots only on the ears. Mature Sumatrans will usually only measure about 10 feet at the shoulder and weigh less than nine thousand pounds. An enormous animal nonetheless, it is considerably smaller than its other Asian (and African) cousins and exists only on the island of Sumatra, usually in forested regions and partialy wooded habitats. Body characteristics After their size, an elephant's most obvious characteristic is the single trunk, a type of muscular hydrostat, that is a much elongated combination of nose and upper lip. The tip of an elephant's trunk contains a relatively high concentration of both Meissner and Pacinian corpuscles and finger-like projections used to manipulate small objects and to pluck grasses. The trunk is a useful and muscular appendage that enables an elephant to reach food in high places and lift obstacles weighing up to 400 kg. Elephants are able to pull up to 12 litres (2.5 Imperial or 3 U.S. gallons) of water into the trunk to be sprayed into the mouth for drinking or onto the back for bathing. A trunk is also used for breathing and can be used as a snorkel when wading in deep water. The tusks of an elephant are upper incisors that are continuously growing. An adult male's tusks will grow about seven inches a year. Tusks are indispensable to an elephant. They are used primarily to dig for water, salt, and roots; to debark trees, in order to get at the tasty pulp inside; and to move downed trees and branches when clearing a path. In addition, they are used for marking trees to establish territory and occasionally as weapons. Like humans who are typically right- or left-handed, elephants are usually right- and left-tusked. The dominant tusk, called the master tusk, is generally shorter and more rounded at the tip from wear. Both male and female African elephants have large, impressive tusks that can reach over ten feet in length and weigh over two hundred pounds. In the Asian species, only the males have large tusks. Female Asians' tusks are very small or absent altogether. Asian males can have tusks as long as the much larger Africans, but they are usually much slimmer and lighter (the heaviest recorded was only 86 pounds). the tusk of both species is mostly made of calcium and phosphate. As a piece of living tissue, it is relatively soft (compared with other minerals such as rock), and the tusk, also known as ivory, is strongly favoured by artisans for its carvability. The desire for elephant ivory has been one of the major factors in the dramatic decline of the world's elephant population. Elephants' teeth are actually very different from those of most other mammals. Over their lives they have 26 teeth, including two upper incisors (tusks), 12 premolars, and 12 molars. Unlike most mammals, which grow baby teeth and then replace them with a permanent set of adult teeth, elephants have cycles of tooth rotation throughout their entire life. After one year the tusks are permanent, but the other teeth are replaced six times in an elephant's life. The teeth don't emerge from the jaws vertically like humans' do with new teeth replacing old ones from above or below. Instead, they have a horizontal progression, like a conveyor belt. New teeth grow in at the back of the mouth, pushing older teeth toward the front, where they become brittle and fall out, making room for more teeth. When an elephant becomes very old, the last set of teeth become brittle, and it must rely on softer foods to chew. Very elderly elephants often spend their final years exclusively in marshy areas where they can feed on soft wet grasses. Eventually, when the final teeth fall out, the animal will be unable to eat and will die. However, as more habitat is destroyed, the elephants' living space becomes smaller and smaller; the elderly no longer have the opportunity to roam in search of more appropriate food and will, consequently, die of starvation at an earlier age. Another name for an elephant is pachyderm, which means "thick skin". An elephant's skin is extremely tough around most parts of its body. However, the skin around the mouth and iside of the ear is paper thin. Normally, the skin of an Asian is covered with more hair than its African counterpart. This is most noticeable in the young. Asian calves are usually covered with a thick coat of brownish red fuzz. As they get older, this hair darkens and becomes more sparse, but it will always remain on their heads and tails. Both species of elephants are typically grayish in colour, but the Africans very often appear brown or reddish from wallowing in mud holes of coloured soil. Wallowing is actually a very important behaviour in elephant society. Not only is it important for socialization, but the mud acts as a sunscreen, protecting their skin from harsh ultraviolet radiation. Though tough, an elephant's skin is very sensitive. Without regular mud baths to protect it from burning, as well as from insect bites and moisture loss, an elephant's skin would suffer serious damage. After bathing, the elephant will usually use its trunk to blow dirt on its body to help dry and bake on its new protective coat. As elephants are limited to smaller and smaller areas, there is less water available, and local herds will often come too clows over the right to use these limited resources. Wallowing also aids the skin in regulating body temperatures. Elephants spend every day fighting an uphill battle to stay cool. They have a very difficult time releasing heat through the skin because, in proportion to their body size, they have very little of it. The ratio of an elephant's mass to the surface area of its skin is many times that of a human. Elephants have even been observed lifting up their legs to expose the soles of their feet, presumably in an effort to expose more skin to the air. Since wild elephants live in very hot climates, they must have other means of getting rid of excess heat. The large flapping ears of an elephant are also very important for temperature regulation. Elephant ears are made of a very thin layer of skin stretched over cartilage and a rich network of blood vessels. On hot days, elephants will flap their ears constantly, creating a slight breeze. This breeze cools the surface blood vessels, and then the cooler blood gets circulated to the rest of the animal's body. The hot blood entering the ears can be cooled as much as ten degrees Fahrenheit before returning to the body. Differences in the ear sizes of African and Asian elephants can be explained, in part, by their geographical distribution. Africans originated and stayed near the equator, where it is warmer. Therefore, they have bigger ears. Asians live farther north, in slightly cooler climates, and thus have smaller ears. The ears are also used in certain displays of aggression and during the males' mating period. If an elephant wants to intimidate a predator or rival, it will spread its ears out wide to make itself look more massive and imposing. During the breeding season, males give off an odor from a gland located behind their eyes. Joyce Poole, a well-known elephant researcher, has theorized that the males will fan their ears in an effort to help propel this "elephant cologne" great distances. Walking at a normal pace an elephant covers about 2 to 4 miles an hour (3 to 6 km/h) but they can reach 24 miles an hour (40 km/h) at full speed. Evolution Although the fossil evidence is uncertain, some scientists believe there is genetic evidence that the elephant family shares distant ancestry with the Sirenians (sea cows) and the hyraxes. In the distant past, members of the hyrax family grew to large sizes, and it seems likely that the common ancestor of all three modern families was some kind of amphibious hyracoid. One theory suggests that these animals spent most of their time under water, using their trunks like snorkels for breathing. The modern elephants can swim too using their trunks in that manner for up to 6 hours and 50 km. In the past, there was a much wider variety of elephant genera, including the mammoths, stegodons and deinotheria. Varieties It has long been known that the African and Asian elephants are separate species. African elephants tend to be larger than the Asian species (up to 4 m high and 7500 kg) and have bigger ears (which are rich in veins and thought to help in cooling off the blood in the hotter African climate). Male and female African elephants have long tusks, while male and female Asian Elephants have shorter tusks, with tusks in females being almost non-existent. African elephants have a dipped back, smooth forehead and two "fingers" at the tip of their trunks, as compared with the Asian species which have an arched back, two humps on the forehead and have only one "finger" at the tip of their trunks. There are two populations of African elephants, Savannah and Forest, and recent genetic studies have led to a reclassification of these as separate species, the forest population now being called Loxodonta cyclotis, and the Savannah (or Bush) population termed Loxodonta africana. This reclassification has important implications for conservation, because it means where there were thought to be two small populations of a single endangered species, there may in fact be two separate species, each of which is even more severely endangered. There's also a potential danger in that if the forest elephant isn't explicitly listed as an endangered species, poachers and smugglers might thus be able to evade the law forbidding trade in endangered animals and their body parts. The Forest elephant and the Savannah elephant can hybridise successfully, though their preference for different terrains reduces the opportunities to hybridise. Many captive African elephants are probably generic African elephants as the recognition of separate species has occurred relatively recently. Although hybrids between different animal genera are usually impossible, in 1978, an Asian elephant cow gave birth to a hybrid calf sired by an African elephant bull (the old terms are used here as this pre-dates current classifications). The pair had mated several times, but pregnancy was believed to be impossible. "Motty", the resulting hybrid male calf, had an African elephant's cheek, ears (large with pointed lobes) and legs (longer and slimmer), but the toenail numbers, (5 front, 4 hind) and the single trunk finger of an Asian elephant. The wrinkled trunk was like an African elephant. The forehead was sloping with one dome and two smaller domes behind it. The body was African in type, but had an Asian-type centre hump and an African-type rear hump. Sadly the calf died of infection 12 days later. It is preserved as a mounted specimen at the British Natural History Museum, London. There are unconfirmed rumours of three other hybrid elephants born in zoos or circuses, all of were said to have been deformed and did not survive. Diet Female African Elephant with calf, in Kenya. An elephant can use its trunk for a variety of purposes. This one is wiping its eye. Elephants are herbivores, spending 16 hours a day collecting plant food. Their diet is at least 50% grasses, supplemented with leaves, twigs, bark, roots, and small amounts of fruits, seeds and flowers. Because elephants only use 40% of what they eat they have to make up for their digestive system's lack of efficiency in volume. An adult elephant can consume 300 to 600 pounds (140 to 270 kg) of food a day. 60% of that food leaves the elephant's body undigested. Social behavior Elephants live in a very structured social order. The social lives of male and female elephants are very different. the females spend their entire lives in tightly knit family groups made up of mothers, daughters, sisters, and aunts. These groups are led by the eldest female, or matriarch. Adult males, on the other hand, live mostly solitary lives. The social circle of the female elephant does not end with the small family unit. In addition to encountering the local males that live on the fringes of one or more groups, the female's life also involves interaction with other families, clans, and subpopulations. Most immediate family groups range from five to fifteen adults, as well as a number of immature males and females. When a group gets too big, a few of the elder daughters will break off and form their own small group. They remain very aware of which local herds are relatives and which are not. The life of the adult male is very different. As he gets older, he begins to spend more time at the edge of the herd, gradually going off on his own for hours or days at a time. Eventually, days become weeks, and somewhere around the age of fourteen, the mature male, or bull, sets out from his natal group for good. While males do live primarily solitary, lives, they will occasionally form loose associations with other males. these groups are called bachelor herds. The males spend much more time than the females fighting for dominance with each other. Only the most dominant males will be permitted to breed with cycling females. The less dominant ones must wait their turn. It is usually the older bulls, forty to fifty years old, that do most of the breeding. The dominance battles between males can look very fierce, but typically they inflict very little injury. Most of the bouts are in the form of aggressive displays and bluffs. Ordinarily, the smaller, younger, and less confident animal will back off before any real damage can be done. However, during the breeding season, the battles can get extremely aggressive, and the occasional elephant is injured. During this season, known as musth, a bull will fight with almost any other male it encounters, and it will spend most of its time hovering around the female herds, trying to find a receptive mate. Reproduction Mating Elephants Females (cows) reach sexual maturity at around 9-12 years of age and become pregnant for the first time, on average, around age 13. They can reproduce until ages 55-60. Females give birth at intervals of about every 5 years. Although males (bulls) reach sexual maturity around age 10, they often do not breed until they are about 30 when they become large and strong enough to compete successfully with other large bulls for the attention of females. An elephant's gestation period lasts about 22 months (630-660 days), the longest gestation period of any mammal, after which one calf typically is born. Twins are rare. The initial signs of labor include: bulging beneath the tail, general discomfort, and straining. Also, the pregnant elephant's progesterone (a hormone that maintains pregnancy) level drops approximately 3-5 days prior to the onset of labor. Labor ranges in length from 5 minutes to 60 hours. The average length of labor is 11 hours. At birth, calves weigh around 90-115 kilograms (200-250 pounds), and they gain 1 kilogram (2-2.5 pounds) a day. In the wild, the mother is accompanied by other adult females (aunts) that protect the young. In the wild, baby elephants are raised and nurtured by the whole family group, practically from the moment they are born. Motherhood and calf rearing The first sound a newborn calf usually makes is a sneezing or snorting sound to clear its nasal passages of fluids. (In the first few minutes after a captive birth, the keepers must monitor the calf closely for the first sound or movement. Whichever happens first, the mother typically responds to her new baby with surprise and excitement.) With the help of its mother, a newborn calf usually struggles to its feet within 30 minutes of birth. For support, it will often lean on its mother's legs. A newborn calf usually stands within one hour and is strong enough to follow its mother in a slow-moving herd within a few days. Unlike most mammals, female elephants have a single pair of mammary glands located just behind the front legs. When born, a calf is about 3 feet (90 cm) high, just tall enough to reach its mother's nipples. A calf suckles with its mouth, not its trunk, which has no muscle tone. To clear the way to its mouth so it can suckle, the calf will flop its trunk onto its forehead. A newborn calf suckles for only a few minutes at a time but will suckle many times per day, consuming up to 11 litres (3 gallons) of milk in a single day. A calf may nurse for up to 2 years of age or older. Complete weaning depends on the disposition of the mother, the amount of available milk, and the arrival of another calf. Newborn calves learn primarily by observing adults, not from natural instinct. For example, a calf learns how to use its trunk by watching older elephants using their trunks. It takes several months for a calf to control the use of its trunk. This can be observed as the calf trips over its trunk or as the trunk wiggles like a rubbery object when the calf shakes its head. Usefulness to the environment Elephants' foraging activities help to maintain the areas in which they live: By pulling down trees to eat leaves, breaking branches, and pulling out roots they create clearings in which new young trees and other vegetation grow to provide future nutrition for elephants and other organisms. Elephants make pathways through the environment that are used by other animals to access areas normally out of reach. The pathways have been used by several generations of elephants, and today people are converting many of them to paved roads. During the dry season elephants use their tusks to dig into dry river beds to reach underground sources of water. These newly dug water holes may become the only source of water in the area. Elephants are a species upon which many other organisms depend. For example, termites eat elephant feces and often begin construction of termite mounds under piles of feces. Habitat Loss The threat to the elephant presented by the ivory trade is unique to the species. However, the second critical, and perhaps more complicated, threat to the elephant's survival is one affecting wildlife throughout the planet. The earth is a living biomass and can support only a limited amount of life. As one species increases, typically another must give way somewhere in the world. The human species has expanded at a rate unprecedented in the history of our planet. As of 2005, there are about 6.5 billion people on the planet, and the human population is continuing to grow. As a result, of this human expansion, an equally unprecedented number of plant and animal species are losing their habitats and disappearing. As the most successful animal species, adapted to just about any environment, humans compete with other animals for space and resources. Humans' increased intelligence also gave them the foresight to realize in modern times that many neighbouring species were on their way toward extinction. Some people began to take measures in an effot to slow this trend. One of the most effective ways to give other species a fighting chance is to preserve and protect large tracts of undeveloped land. National Parks The IUCN recognizes several categories of protected land. A reserve is an area of land set aside by any local district, corporation, or even an individual. Since this land can be privately owned and controlled, its status can be overturned very easily. A national park on the other hand, can only be established by the highest authority in the nation, usually by legislation, and is much harder to override. To date, no national park in the world has ever been deproclaimed (though some have been reduced in size). Africa's first official reserve eventually became one of the world's most famous and successful national parks. Kruger National Park in South Africa first became a reserve against great opposition in 1898 (then Sabi Reserve). It was deproclaimed and reproclaimed several times before it was renamed and granted national park status in 1926. It was to be the first of many. Of course, there were many problems in establishing these reserves. For example, elephants range through a wide tract of land with little regard for national borders. however, when most parks were created, the boundaries were drawn at the man-made borders of individual countries. Once a fence was erected, many animals found themselves cut off from their winter feeding grounds or spring breeding areas. Some animals died as a result, while some, like the elephants, just trampled through the fences. This did little to belie their image as a crop-raiding pest. The more often an elephant wandered off its reserve, the more trouble it got into, and the more chance it had of being shot by an angry farmer. When confined to small territories, elephants can inflict an enormous amount of damge to the local landscapes. Today there are still many problems associated with these parks and reserves, but there is now little question as to whether or not they are necessary. As scientists learn more about nature and the environment, it becomes very clear that these parks may be the elephant's last hope against the rapidly changing world around them. Deforestation For hundreds, if not thousands, of years, local people have used a method of farming known as "slash and burn". An area of forest is simply burned to the ground so that its ashes provide fertilizer, enriching the soil for planting crops. After a few seasons, however, the soil is leached of its nutrients and is of poor quality for growing anything. At this point, farmers move on to burn down another tract of land, leaving the original spot to replenish itself over the years. When the earth's human population was smaller, this method worked well. Left untouched, the abandoned fields would once again become overgrown with forest life. The original farmers' descendants would then cycle back through these patches of forest in the years to come. With the population growth comes increased demand for land. The cycle between clearing and regrowth becomes shorter and shorter. During the 20th century, the human population has increased to such a point that plots of land must be reused when nothing but short grass has had a chance to return. Obviously, the soil in these burned fields is not very rich and is useful for an even shorter amount of time, causing farmers to move on to new territory at an alarming rate. In the last few years, deforestation has been an even bigger problem with increased demands for timber. Worldwide, huge areas of forest are being cleared for the cash value of their trees. Many of the native trees that are felled take hundreds of years to regrow, so reforestation plans often involve the planting of fast-growth trees, like pine and eucalyptus. These trees will fill in the area quickly, but they are not native species and will not usually support any indigenous wildlife. Zoologists J. and K. MacKinnon refer to these new forests as "zoological deserts" because they are nearly barren of all life. As larger patches of forest disappear, the ecosystem is affected in profound ways. The trees are responsible for anchoring soil and absorbing water runoff. Floods and massive erosion are common results of deforestation. Elephants need massive tracts of land because, much like the slash-and-burn farmers, they are used to crashing through the forest, tearing down trees and shrubs for food and then cycling back later on, when the area has regrown. As forests are reduced to small pockets, elephants become part of the problem, quickly destroying all the vegetation in an area, eliminating all their resources. This process, unfortunately, can be irreversible and always has long-term consequences. Overgrazing Meeting the agricultural demands of an ever-increasing Third World population takes its toll on the land in more ways than one. Overgrazing has caused severe land degradation in Africa and Asia. As more cattle and livestock farms appear in these areas, larger and larger stretches of pasture are needed to feed them. After an area has been overgrazed by cattle, it can still support sheep. After it has become too poor to support sheep, goats can still survive on it. Goats will eat just about anything and are often seen as a practical way to utilize poor-quality, overgrazed land. Unfortunately, goats strip the land to the bone, consuming any vegetation, including shrubs and trees, right down to the bark. What's left behind is of no use to an army of ants, much less a herd of elephants. Overhunting Humankind is the only species capable of overhunting another species to extinction. Most carnivorous animals' survival is limited by the number of prey animals available. As prey items begin to decrease, many local predators go hungry and their numbers will thin out as well. Living in this constant state of checks and balances, many species of wild animals have survived for hundreds of thousands of years. If humans' prey dies off, on the other hand, they can move on to alternate animals or simply supplement their omnivorous diets with less protein and more vegetation. As the human species seeks to control its environment, it continues to overhunt across nearly every landscape in the world. The larger, long-lived, slow-breeding animals, like the elephant, are most susceptible to this overhunting. They cannot hide, and it takes many years for an elephant to grow and reproduce. Also, as other smaller species (including trees and plants) are overharvested, the ecosystem is severely disturbed. The repercussions of this flow up and down the food chain. Again, the elephant usually suffers severely from the situation. An elephant needs an average of three hundred pounds of vegetation a day to survive. As large predators are hunted, the local small grazer populations (the elephant's food competitors) find themselves on the rise. The increased number of herbivores ravage the local trees, shrubs, and grasses. Elephants cannot survive on what remains. Asia's dwindling habitat Lacking the massive tusks of its African cousins, the Asian elephant's demise can be attributed mostly to loss of its habitat. J. C. Daniel, researcher and head of Bombay's Nation History Society, says, "Loss of its habitat is the crux of the problem of the elephant's declining numbers, its endangered status, and threats to its survival." Elephants are found in many parts of Asia, but they are perhaps most commonly associated with the subcontinent of India. In 1947, when india became an independent nation, its population was approximately 500 million. The same landmass now supports almost a billion people. At the turn of the twentieth century, it is estimated that about 40% of the country was covered in forest. Today, due to clear-cutting for commercial planting, as well as overgrazing by limitless livestock, the forest remains over only 15% of the land. Approximately one-third of this remaining forest has been set aside as wildlife preserves. Like most developing nations, India has very severe domestic concerns and a lack of funds with which to deal with these problems. There has been much heated debate over whether the nation's limited resources should be put toward habitat protection when many of its human inhabitants do not have sufficient food or even running water. As in most countries, the war to save the elephant is fought, to a large extent, by politicians. India's wildlife is afforded as much protection as its government can afford, but each year there are proposals to reduce the amount spent on conservation. Fortunately for wildlife, conservation still has many staunch supporters. Ullas Karanth, an outspoken preservationist and researcher of Indian wildlife, is of the opinion that "97% of this country is earmarked for people. On the other 3% there must be no compromise.... It is primarily a policing job." Voices like Karanth's have made headway: Thirty years ago there were eighty national parks in India. Today there are over 450 and more on the way. Of course, a serious lack of funds means that many of these parks are protected on paper only. Without money for rangers and equipment, patrols for these areas are sadly lacking. Once set aside as a reserve, the success of the parks depends on cooperation from many different levels. Local people have to be willing to relocate or stop poaching and overgrazing the preserves. The government then has to be willing to pay for these relocations and farmer subsidies. Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon, the island nation off the southeast coast of India, was at one time home to more than twelve thousand elephants. They were an important part of the culture - used as war mounts, captured and exported, and used in private herds as work animals. In the early nineteenth century, as a British colony, Ceylon was the site of massive coffee plantations. As the plantations increased, elephants became a significant pest and bounties were placed on their heads. Elephants were slaughtered by the thousands. One man during the mid-ninteenth century was reported to have killed over thirteen hundred himself. By 1981 people began to be concerned about dwindling elephant populations, and laws were passed to stop the uncontrolled hunting. Pressures on crops from the elephants then increased again, so hunting still continued to a certain extent. According to the IUCN's specialist groups, there are just over three thousand wild elephants left in Sri Lanka today. These elephants all live in one of three national parks: Ruhunu, Wilpattu, and Gal Oya. These parks offer less than guaranteed protection. For example, Ruhunu and Gal Oya are in areas that have a severe dry season. The elephants cannot find food and water during these times, so they migrate to nearby wetlands. These elephants have been making this seasonal migration for centuries, as is evidenced by the existence of very old trails that they still follow. Today, however, the wetlands are crowded with tea and coffee plantations, which the elephants see as a tasty buffet. Compounding the problem is the fact that plantations now exist all along the route they use to reach the wetlands. So, of course, the elephants eat and do more crop damage all along the migration route. People depend on these cash crops for their livelihood, and there are laws to protect humans as well as elephants. Farmers in these areas are legally permitted to shoot elephants who endanger their crops and settlements. Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is home to many isolated elephant populations. Unfortunately, many countries in this part of the world are undergoing extreme political upheaval and do not allow Western researchers in very often. One man, Robert Olivier, has been able to penetrate the political and natural blockades of these areas on several occasions. Man and Elephants Harvest from the Wild Elephant feces on a road adjoining Minneriya-Giritale Nature Reserve, Sri Lanka. The harvest of elephants, both legal and illegal, has had some unexpected consequences on elephant anatomy as well. African ivory hunters, by killing only tusked elephants, have given a much larger chance of mating to elephants with small tusks or no tusks at all. The propagation of the absent-tusk gene has resulted in the birth of large numbers of tuskless elephants, now approaching 30% in some populations (compare with a rate of about 1% in 1930). Tusklessness, once a very rare genetic abnormality, has become a widespread hereditary trait. [1] It is possible, if unlikely, that continued selection pressure could bring about a complete absence of tusks in African elephants, a development normally requiring thousands of years of evolution. The effect of tuskless elephants on the environment, and on the elephants themselves, could be dramatic. Elephants use their tusks to root around in the ground for necessary minerals, tear apart vegetation, and spar with one another for mating rights. Without tusks, elephant behavior could change dramatically. [2] Domestication and use African Savannah Elephant (left) and Asian Elephant at an English zoo. Elephants have been working animals used in various capacities by humans. Seals found in the Indus Valley suggest that the elephant was first domesticated in ancient India. However, elephants have never been truly domesticated: the male elephant in his periodic condition of musth is dangerous and difficult to control. Therefore elephants used by humans have typically been female, war elephants being an exception, however: as female elephants in battle will run from a male, only males could be used in war. It is generally more economical to capture wild young elephants and tame them than breeding them in captivity. War elephants were used by armies in the Indian sub-continent, and later by the Persian empire. This use was adopted by Hellenistic armies after Alexander the Great experienced their worth against king Poros, notably in the Ptolemaic and Seleucid diadoch empires. The Carthaginian general Hannibal took elephants across the Alps when he was fighting the Romans, but brought too few elephants to be of much military use, although his horse cavalry was quite successful; he probably used a now-extinct third African (sub)species, the North African (Forest) elephant, smaller than its two southern cousins, and presumably easier to domesticate. A large elephant in full charge could cause tremendous damage to infantry, and cavalry horses would be afraid of them (see Battle of Hydaspes). Throughout Siam, India, and most of South Asia elephants were used in the military for heavy labor, especially for uprooting trees and moving logs, and were also commonly used as executioners to crush the condemned underfoot. Elephant footprints (tyre tracks for scale) Elephants have also been used as mounts for safari-type hunting, especially Indian shikar (mainly on tigers), and as ceremonial mounts for royal and religious occasions, whilst Asian elephants have been used for transport and entertainment, and are common to circuses around the world. African elephants have long been reputed to not be domesticable, but some entrepreneurs have succeeded by bringing Asian mahouts from Sri Lanka to Africa. In Botswana, Uttum Corea has been working with African elephants and has several young tame elephants near Gaborone. African elephants are more temperamental than Asian elephants, but are easier to train. Because of their more sensitive temperaments, they require different training methods than Asian elephants and must be trained from infancy hence Corea worked with orphaned elephants. African elephants are now being used for (photo) safaris. Corea's elephants are also used to entertain tourists and haul logs. The Elephant Trap Another more effective method is practiced in the Indian Subcontinent which is far less physical and brutal and more mental. It is called the "elephant trap". The following is taken from a newsletter. "From when an elephant is a baby they tie him for certain periods with a rope to a tree. The young elephant tries his hardest to escape, he pulls and wriggles and jumps and crawls yet the rope just tightens and to the tree it remains tied. Learning that, the elephant doesn’t try to escape and accepts his confinement. A couple of years pass and the elephant is now an adult weighing several tons. Yet the trainer continues to tie the elephant to the tree with the same rope he’s always used, for the simple reason that the elephant has the concept in his mind that the rope is stronger than him. Abiding to this conditioning the elephant is trapped for life. To break free all the elephant has to do is erase that limiting thought for in fact he is free to go." Elephants in Culture Pop culture Esala Perahera in Kandy, Sri Lanka Trichur Pooram festival in Kerala, south India Jumbo, a circus elephant, has entered the English language as a synonym for "large"; Dumbo, the flying elephant in Disney movie; The French children's storybook character Babar the Elephant (an elephant king) created by Jean de Brunhoff and also an animated TV series; The Elephant's Child is one of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories; The Thai Elephant Orchestra, a musical instrument playing group of Elephants from the Thai Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang; John Merrick, a British man in Victorian England, who suffered from substantial deformities, and was nicknamed "The Elephant Man" due to the nature and extent of his condition; The fictional planet in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels consists of a flat disc-shaped world carried on the backs of four elephants who ride through space on a space turtle, Great A'Tuin. A common adage is that "Elephants never forget", and later scientific evidence seems to support they have good memories. Fictionally portrayed elephants are often humorously depicted as dreadfully afraid of mice, due to the obvious and ironic difference in size between the two animals. Real elephants seem to have no particular dislike of mice, although many handlers admit they do not like the presence of small, difficult-to-locate animals running about them. Perhaps because they are very large, unusual looking creatures, elephant jokes are quite common. Religion A white elephant is considered holy in Thailand. Ganesh, the Hindu god of wisdom, has an elephant's head. Elephants used for festival, south India Politics and secular Symbolism The elephant, and the white elephant in particular, has often been used a symbol of royal power and prestige in Asia; The elephant is also the symbol for the United States Republican Party (often pictured with the Democratic party's donkey). The first depiction of the Republican party appeared in a cartoon by Thomas Nast of Harper's Weekly in 1874; See also the Danish royal Order of the Elephant. Elephant rage The National Geographic Society1 aired a program describing a disturbing trend of elephants killing humans on the National Geographic Channel on Sunday, June 5th, 2005. To sum up the episode, scientists discover that elephants kill 300-400 humans per year, and they set out to find why. In the last ten minutes of the episode Explorer: Elephant Rage, the scientists formed this theory: So many elephants have been killed just because of human cruelty and greed. Humans have mistreated elephants for the past century, and they are suffering Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (the first time this mental illness has been "diagnosed" in an animal other than a human). They cite the following reasons: Humans "cull" elephant herds when they become too big for nature to contain, and the babies are sold to circuses. In the episode, a female elephant, while in a circus, killed two people and terrorized a crowd. After digging into her past, it was found that she was the only survivor of one of these "cullings", and at the time of the attack, she relived the nightmare. Humans kill elephants for game and food In the episode, we see a baby elephant accidentally killed by humans, which triggers an entire herd to attack a town without provocation because that town had the baby elephant's scent, and they were looking for their "kinsman". If an orphaned baby elephant or several orphaned young are left to fend for themselves, as they grow up, they have no older members to keep their hormones in check and to teach them how to be an elephant, so they gang up and act on their unrestrained aggressiveness. Humans are slowly destroying the food source of elephants by human development. When a herd was found eating crops from the farmers crop field, they attempted to drive them away by shooting above their heads and tossing sticks that they lit on fire. Elephants used for work can be pushed too far, and they lash out from the stress at their handlers. Tuskless elephants are becoming increasingly more common, particularly in Asia where they may rank as high as 40%. As a defense against their tusked counterparts, these elephants typically learn to be far more aggressive and sometimes willing to attack unprovoked. There is also one other cause of elephant rage that is not the result of human activity. Since male elephants are "kicked out" of their herds when they become sexually mature, their "sex hormones" kick in and anything that stands in their way becomes an unfortunate victim. At least a few elephants have been suspected to be drunk during their attacks. In December 1998, a herd of elephants overran a village in India. Although locals reported that nearby elephants had recently been observed drinking beer which rendered them "unpredictable", officials considered it the least likely explanation for the attack [3]. An attack on another Indian village occurred in October 1999, and again locals believed the reason was drunkenness, but the theory was not widely accepted [4]. Purportedly drunk elephants raided yet another Indian village again on December 2002 [5]. See also Crushing by elephant Dumbo Dwarf elephant Elephant (movie) Elephant ear Elephantiasis Elephant in the corner Elephant Sanctuary Elephants of Kerala History of elephants in Europe List of fictional elephants List of historical elephants Mammal Rogue elephant War elephant White elephant Year of the Elephant References The Blindmen and the Elephant by John Godfrey Saxe Footnotes [1] External link to national geographics elephant rage episode of Explorer External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wikibooks has a Dichotomous Key related to this taxon: Proboscidea Absolute elephant - general information How elephants communicate Elephant News - latest headlines about elephants Tim Radford, "The elephant time forgot", The Guardian 2001-08-24, 1. Describes the discovery of the third species of elephant. C. Johnson, "Elephant trunks were once snorkels", News in Science 1999-05-11, Photo of Pinnewella Elephant Orphanage in Sri Lanka Seek My Bowl on elephants as symbols The elephant game. Elephant Reintroduction Foundation,The foundation is dedicated to a management system for rehabilitation of captive elephants and habitat preparation to ensure successful long-term sustainability after their return to the wild. 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