The elephant possesses an enormously massive body, which may weigh as much as 7 tones. Hence its legs are short and shaped like pillars, capable of bearing the heavy weight of its body. It has two overgrowth teeth called ivory tusks, which protrude outside from the upper jaws. The male elephants have large thick tusks where as the female elephants are without tusks or with small insignificant tusks.  These tusks are used by the elephant in digging up roots and also as weapons of defence. However for chewing food it has around teeth inside its mouth.

The amazing long trunk of the elephant is an incredible organ without which it can’t exist. It is the outstanding part of its body and is almost as wonderful as the hands of a man. It is an extension of the nose and upper lips and it functions brilliantly as hand, arm, nose, and lips, all in one for the elephant. The trunk is very powerful and flexible and has a number of muscles, probably as many as 40,000. Because of this massive strength, the elephant can employ its trunk very effectively as a weapon. The elephant uses its trunk in uprooting plants and in putting food and water in its mouth.

The elephants live in groups called herds that consist of 10 to 50 elephants.  Their herds usually led by a female, keep on roaming around the forests. Elephants are also excellent swimmers and climbers. In general the elephants have the colour of catechu with a blackish shade. Few of the species are white also and are found in Thailand. The life span of an elephant is 70 years.  The female elephant, after a gestation period of about 18 to 22 months gives birth to a calf. The gestation period varies according to male or female calf conceived. In exceptional cases twins or even triplets have been recorded, out of which only one calf survives. Elephants are vegetarians, eating a wide range of plants.

About 300 species of elephant once roamed all over the world except in Australia. But, only two types of elephants exist today, Asiatic and African and are found in the tropics of Asia and Africa. Both the African and Asian elephants have a common ancestor, but they have some physical differences due to their evolutionary process of adaptation.

The Asiatic elephants: The Asiatic elephants were distributed in a vast area stretching from West Asia to China. But in course of time, they disappeared from Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and most of China. Now four subspecies of the Asiatic elephants are found in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia. The current number of the Asian elephants is about 60,000 with almost half of them are in India. They inhabit in the rain forests, grass jungles, and dry forests. Some white elephants have been recorded in Myanmar and Thailand.

The Asian elephants are smaller than the African species. They have smaller ears and eyes, and a round forehead. An Asian male elephant weighs up to 6 tones. Asian elephants are light grey in colour and their trunk has only one knob at the end. They inhabit in rain forests, grass jungles and dry forests and prefer eating the leaves and branches of plants, fruits and roots.

Asiatic elephants are popular in circuses and zoos. They are used in many regions for transporting logs of wood. They are also trained to do varieties of works starting from religious ceremonies to tourism departments.

African elephants:  African elephants inhabit in the south of the Sahara desert. They are larger than their Indian cousins and have bigger tusks, eyes and ears with a hollow forehead. They grow upto 4 metres, over twice as tall as an adult human. The male African elephant weighs over 7 tones and is heavier than 6 big cars. They are dark grey in colour, have sloping heads, slightly humped backs and fewer nails and their trunks have two knobs at the end.

The African elephants have adapted to many different habitats. They eat and prefer grass. They also manage well in tracts near rivers as they are often found chewing on reeds or aquatic plants while standing neck deep in water. They are equally happy in mountainous zones. The African elephants are exploited for their meat and ivory. The first zoo birth of an African elephant occurred in 1943.

In India, the elephants have been an integral part of India’s history, tradition myth and culture. Our prehistoric carvings, paintings, and seals from Harappan Civilisation testify our long association with these creatures. Elephants were the most favourite of Indian kings as they were used in war and peace. Chandragupta Maurya of Magadha had as many as 9000 elephants in his army. In the time of Ashok-The Great, elephants became the symbol of Buddhism. It is said that the Mughal emperor Akbar-The Great had 32,000 elephants in his army. Elephants perform vital roles in many religious festivals in India. That is why many Indian temples have their own elephants. They are decorated and displayed on important ceremonial occasions. Hindus also worship them because Lord Ganesh, their God of Learning has an elephant face.

Large-scale deforestation, enormous area taken for industrialization, mining, and plantation have ravaged elephant habitats. Poaching for ivory has hastened the decline of the elephant’s population.