Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus)
Status: Endangered

Found across the continent, the Asian Elephant is the largest living land animal in Asia. Wild elephants are threatened by shrinking habitats and poaching for ivory or tourist entertainment. In the forest, their foraging activities help young trees and plants find space to grow and create paths used by other animals.

The species is found primarily in Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Indochina and parts of Nepal and Indonesia and Thailand. It is considered endangered, with between 41,410 and 52,345 left in the wild. An elephant’s life span is on average 60 years in the wild and 80 in captivity. They eat 10% of their body weight each day and sometimes scrape the soil for minerals. Bull elephants are usually solitary, and fight over females during the breeding season while female elephants live in small groups. Its gestation period is 18–22 months, and the female gives birth to one calf.

Wild elephants face a number of serious threats created by humans, including shrinking habitats and poaching for the illegal wildlife trade. The Asian elephant is protected from international trade under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Researcher estimates that around 250 live Asian Elephants may have been smuggled out of Myanmar over the past ten years, with most being sold for tourism activities in Thailand.

FREELAND strongly encourages travelers to research and question tour operators about where animals have come from and how they are cared for; or avoid tourism activities involving captive wildlife altogether.

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