-- The Indian Elephant --

-- The Indian Elephant -- , originally uploaded by Pappu | Photography  :: Busy Busy @ work.

Spot
Pondicherry INDIA

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

he Indian Elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) is one of three recognized subspecies of the Asian elephant, and native to mainland Asia. Since 1986, Elephas maximus has been listed as endangered by IUCN as the population has declined by at least 50% over the last three generations, estimated to be 60–75 years. The species is pre-eminently threatened by habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation.[1]

Characteristics
In general, Asian elephants are smaller than African elephants and have the highest body point on the head. The tip of their trunk has one finger-like process. Their back is convex or level.[2] Indian elephants reach a shoulder height of between 2 and 3.5 m (6.6 and 11.5 ft), weigh between 2,000 and 5,000 kg (4,400 and 11,000 lb), and have 19 pairs of ribs. Their skin color is lighter than of maximus with smaller patches of depigmentation, but darker than of sumatranus. Females are usually smaller than males, and have short or no tusks.[3]
The largest Indian elephant was 3.43 metres (11.3 ft) high at the shoulder.[4] In 1985, two large elephant bulls were spotted for the first time in Bardia National Park, and named Raja Gaj and Kanchha. They roamed the park area together and made occasional visits to the females. Raja Gaj stood 11.3 ft (3.4 m) tall at the shoulder and had a massive body weight. His appearance has been compared to that of a mammoth due to his high bi-domed shaped head. His forehead and domes were more prominent than in other Asian bull elephants.[5]
Indian elephants have smaller ears, but relatively broader skulls and larger trunks than African elephants. Toes are large and broad. Unlike their African cousins, their abdomen is proportionate with their body weight but the African elephant has a large abdomen as compared to the skulls.

Distribution and habitat
Indian elephants are native to mainland Asia: India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Malay Peninsular, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and China. They inhabit grasslands, dry deciduous, moist deciduous, evergreen and semi-evergreen forests. In the 1990s, their estimated population size was[6]
70–150 in the southern parts of Vietnam;
100–125 in Nepal, where their range is restricted to a few protected areas in the Terai along the border with India. In 2002, estimates ranged from 106 to 172 resident and migratory elephants, with most of them in Bardia National Park.[7]
150–250 in Bangladesh, where only isolated populations survive in the Chittagong Hills;
200–250 in China, where they survive only in the prefectures of Xishuangbanna, Simao, and Lincang of southern Yunnan;
250–500 in Bhutan, where their range is limited to protected areas in the south along the border with India;
250–600 in Cambodia, where they primarily inhabit the mountains of the south-west and in Mondulkiri and Ratanakiri Provinces;
500–1,000 Laos, where they remain widely but patchily distributed in forested areas, both in the highlands and lowlands;
2,100–3,100 in Malaysia;
2,500–3,200 in Thailand, mainly in the mountains along the border with Myanmar, with smaller fragmented populations occurring in the peninsula in the south;
4,000–5,000 in Myanmar, where populations are highly fragmented, and occur in the northern and western hill ranges, in Pegu Yoma of central Myanmar, Tenasserim and Shan State;
26,390–30,770 in India, where populations are restricted to four general areas:
in the Northeast — from the eastern border of Nepal in northern West Bengal through western Assam along the Himalaya foothills as far as the Mishmi Hills, extending into eastern Arunachal Pradesh, the plains of upper Assam, and the foothills of Nagaland, to the Garo Hills of Meghalaya through the Khasi Hills, to parts of the lower Brahmaputra plains and Karbi Plateau; isolated herds occur in Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, and in the Barak Valley districts of Assam:
in the Northwest — at the foot of the Himalayas in Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh, ranging from Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary to the Yamuna River;
in the central part — in Orissa, Jharkhand, and in the southern part of West Bengal, with some animals wandering into Chattisgarh;
in the South — eight populations are fragmented from each other in northern Karnataka, in the crestline of Karnataka–Western Ghats, in Bhadra–Malnad, in Brahmagiri–Nilgiris–Eastern Ghats, in Nilambur–Silent Valley–Coimbatore, in Anamalai–Parambikulam, in Periyar–Srivilliputhur, and one in Agasthyamalai.