Home › Animals A–Z › Asian Elephant

Asia's largest land animal — smaller-eared than its African cousin, and woven deep into India's forests, temples and daily life.

How to spot it

Smaller than the African elephant, with smaller rounded ears, a twin-domed forehead, and a trunk tipped with a single finger-like lip. Only some males (tuskers) carry tusks; many males, and nearly all females, do not.

Where it lives

Forests and grasslands across India, with strongholds in the Western Ghats, the northeast and central and southern reserves. Herds travel long traditional routes, which brings them into conflict with farms and railways wherever corridors are cut off.

What it eats

A herbivore that feeds for most of the day — grasses, bark, roots, fruit and raided crops — putting away over a hundred kilograms of plants and drinking many litres of water daily. Its huge appetite shapes the whole forest around it.

Behaviour & life

Highly intelligent and social, living in herds led by the oldest female, the matriarch. The bonds run deep: elephants comfort one another, remember routes and companions for decades, and grieve their dead. A calf nurses for years.

In India

Revered as Ganesha and named India's Heritage Animal, the elephant is protected under Schedule I. It is classed as Endangered — habitat loss and conflict with people are the main threats, and Project Elephant works to keep the old migration corridors open.

← Back to all animals