Asia Elephant

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Characteristics - Male Asia Elephants have tusks and female Asia Elephants do not have the tusks. They have smooth, straight and long trunks. The weight of its brain is merely 10 pounds but its memory capacity equals to the one of a five year old child. Skin colour is usually grayish black or dark grey color and when skin is dry, its colour is pale and when it is wet, skin colour seems black. The head is thickset and its ears are triangle shaped. Though its skin is generally thick, the skin of the head and hips is thin.

Range - In Asia, it can be found in India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Lao. In Myanmr, it can be found in May Yu Forest Reserve, Kachin State, Bago, and Rakhine State.

Habit - Elephants always live in herds of 5 to 20 members. They are active during both day and night. They are expert in swimming. Despite weak eyesight, they have a keen sense of smell and a good hearing. Their vision is weak because of their long and volume eyelashes. They sleep just 2 to 3 hours for one time and their sleeping time is very less. Elephants can eat about (500) pounds of foods and that foods cannot be digested and so about half of the foods eaten shall be forsaken. Elephants drink from (18) to (23) gallons of water and urinate (15) to (20) times a day. Every healthy male elephant (Bulls) enter a state called ‘musth’ every year. One time lasts about (2) weeks and at this time, they become violent.

Diet - Elephants eat sugarcane, fruits, bamboos, long grasses, vines and various kinds of bushes and leaves.

Conservation status rank - Because of excessive hunting, getting damage to their habitat, elephants are listed and preserved in International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s an endangered species list. In Myanmar, elephants are totally protected by listing in the Protected Species Categories.