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Biology of Elephants
Because of the elephants, long evolution, many of their systems and organs are quite highly
specialized. These adaptations help to sustain life, and maintain the reproductive balance and social
order of the biggest mammals on land.
Brain When compared to its weight, the elephant’s brain is relatively small. Large areas
are devoted to memory and scent. Plenty of curves and notches in the brain indicate high intelligence,
and a capacity for learning greater than many animals.
Teeth Nature has provided the elephant with teeth unlike any other animal’s. Elephants
have 6 or 7 sets of 4 grinding teeth, which grow and are replaced over their life span. More easily
observed, beautiful, and valuable to the human population are tusks, which are actually the elephant’s
incisor teeth. The tusks grow from the upper jaw. There are two kinds of male elephants. Chang Plai is
a male with tusks; Chang Si Daw is a male without tusks. The female elephant, called Chang Pang,
has no tusks, though some Chang Pang have tiny tusks called khanai. The tusks will protrude from
beneath the upper lip and be visible when the elephant is 2-5 years old. Elephants use their tusks as
weapons to defend themselves against other animals, or other elephants. Today, tusks are a liability for
the elephants, which must be killed to remove and sell their ivory, thus hastening the species’ decline
and the threat of extinction.
Eyes Elephants have small eyes when compared to their large size, yet they
can see things clearly and at a considerable distance.
Ears Elephants have huge ears that work like
a radiator, fanning all the time. When elephants spread their ears
out, they can hear noises from far away better. Aged elephants will
have curled ears and the lower edges may be partly necrotic. We
can roughly calculate the elephant’s age by looking at the ears.
Fewer “chips” mean a younger age while the more, the older. Thai
people believe that elephants can not only understand human
language but also have a “sixth sense”. According to traditional
wisdom, Thai elephants do not like obscene words.
Trunk
Of all the organs of the elephant, the trunk is the most
incredible because of its multiple uses: as nose, hand and fingers, and “straw”.
There are no bones in the trunk, but it contains 40,000 muscle groups.
Therefore, the trunk is normally pliable and able to pick up tiny objects. It can
also become more rigid, and be used to lift heavy items weighing 100 kg. The
trunk is filled with sensory nerves for perceiving scent. Among blind elephants, it
has been observed that the trunk can be used as “radar” for negotiating their
environment. The elephant is sensitive to high temperatures because of the heat
retention in its thick skin, and elephants “sweat” only at their toenails. The trunk
is used as a “pipe” for sucking water, to shower the body and reduce heat.
It can hold up to 10 liters of water, or suck dirt to be sprayed for insect protection. Because of its
multiple functions, the elephant tends to be very protective of its trunk, as the trunk is a very sensitive
organ and essential to the animal’s daily life. When chasing
another animal, the elephant will roll its trunk up tightly for
protection. The trunk is also a powerful weapon. When
elephants fight, the primary weapons are not the tusks, but the
trunk. The elephant will use the powerful muscles in its trunk to
grab a smaller opponent, before stamping on it or stabbing
with its tusks. The elephant’s trunk is not only a vital to
sustaining life, it is powerful tool for killing as well.
The Way of Life of Thai Elephants
There are elephants in almost every province in
Thailand, especially in places with an abundance of
grass and water. Thai elephants like cool weather, and
they tend to reside near wooded areas where there are
brooks and streams. They avoid strong sunshine.
Because they are sensitive to heat, elephants like to
dip in the water often, can stay afloat for a long time and
swim well. If the water is too deep, the elephant can still
snorkel up its trunk to breathe comfortably. If overheated, the elephant will put its trunk into its mouth to
suck water from a special pouch in the throat, and spray its shoulders, back, neck, and head to keep
the skin wet. Typically, the water sucked from this pouch does not have a bad odor.
Normally, elephants live together in a herd, in small family groups. A few family groups may
sometimes join together, and temporary herds may number in the hundreds. A family group consists of
a few mature females and a number of teen-aged and young elephants, generally not more than
10 altogether. Adult males are more solitary, though they may join the temporary herds mentioned
above. Young bulls may also form a loose herd with other “bachelors”. Chang Plai will mix with the
female herd during the mating period (about 7-15 days), then depart again. Upon reaching maturity,
bulls will be chased away from the herd, to prevent mating among close relatives. Death, on average,
comes when the elephant is 55 or 60 years old. The oldest recorded death ever was an elephant of
82 years, but that is very rare. Elephants have a prime working age of 25 and a “retirement” age of
about 50.
Like most mammals, elephants have a high degree of maternal care. Although male elephants
do not participate in the family, females will love and nurture their babies constantly. The mother uses
its trunk to caress the baby, to scrub and clean it, and to keep watch and stand guard.
Mother elephants are among the most attentive of mothers. If her baby dies, the mother will grieve.
She will seem to shed tears and not eat for a long time. Should the babies wander off or misbehave,
however, mother elephants are prepared to discipline their babies with a swat of their trunks.
In punishing the babies who are stubborn or naughty, mother elephants may discipline those who are
not their own, and allow their own babies to be punished by “aunties” as well. This communal rearing of
young elephants guarantees that young elephants are well cared for by their entire herd.
Elephant society has a matriarchal structure in which “females rule”. In general, the head of the
group will be a senior female, like a wise grandmother with greater experience than the other members
of the herd.
Though elephants are big and strong, they are limited to carrying loads of about 100 kg at
a time. When compared with the elephant’s huge body, this load is considered very small.
Elephants can run up to 20 km per hour, cannot walk over 12 km per hour and sleep 4-5 hours a night.
Conception and Parturition
A healthy female will start to become fertile at the age of 15-16 years, up to the age of 50.
Females can give birth to as many as 11-12 calves
during their lifetime. The normal interval between calves
is four to five years. Depending on their workload,
domestic elephants have fewer babies than wild
elephants that live freely without hard work. Elephants will mate whenever the female is receptive, but
she is most often fertile in the hot season. The pregnancy will last 21-22 months and will be barely
visible. Mahouts look for clumsiness, enlargement of the mammaries, dripping milk or a refusal to work,
for example, to determine if the female is pregnant. Elephant societies also have allomothers or
“midwives”, female elephants that are the mother’s companions and help raise the young, from her
pregnancy through parturition and infancy. It is said that a “midwife” will be even more possessive
than the biological mother. Most of the time, elephants will give birth at night, and they tend to seek a
place covered with tender grass or soft ground to bear the coming infant. A thin layer of tissue coats a
newborn elephant. The midwife will tear this tissue off, or the mother will do it herself. The newborn will
lay still on its side for a short time, then begin to wag its ears, tails, trunk and legs slowly. After that it
will stand up and be able to walk in an hour or two.
A newborn elephant has long hair and a short trunk. Young mother elephants who are giving
birth for the first time and experiencing unfamiliar pain, may hurt their own calves. The midwife will
protect the calf in this situation, will help train it to eat tender grass as it grows, and stand guard over it
for many years.
Elephants in Musth
Musth (in bulls) and estrus (in cows), are
natural phenomena caused by a surge in reproductive
hormones. Although musth lasts for months in some
males, the female is fertile for no more than a few days
each year. Males will have a much more violent
condition, often in the cold season between December
and February. Musth occurs in healthy elephants 20
years and up, throughout their reproductive life.
When a bull elephant comes into musth, a
change occurs in the small glands on both temples
between its ears and eyes. The glands will be swollen
as big as eggs for many days. Oily fluid will start to flow
from the glands (which normally cannot be seen at all), and then a sticky fluid with a very strong smell
is secreted. During the musth period, the bull will be aggressive, difficult to manage and dangerous,
even to their mahout. When charging, the elephant will curl up its trunk and stab with its tusks. When
attacking, it will grab with its trunk and stamp or kick with its feet, or attempt to roll the victim back and
forth on the ground.
The causes of musth have not been clearly established. It is generally understood that
elephants need to mate and to claim their own territory, and musth may be a natural mechanism for
selective breeding. To safely deal with musth, mahouts tether the elephant in an isolated place with
sufficient food and water, and avoid making it work hard.
The Nutrition of Elephants
The elephant, the largest of land animals, is a pure vegetarian. Most of its diet consists of
leaves and grass. Elephants need up to 250 kg of food per day. Ripened fruits are a favorite food.
Wild elephants will travel a long way to reach fruit at the peak of ripeness, and can remember the
season when fruits ripen from year to year. Elephants drink about 60 gallons (or around 200 liters) of
water per day.
A long time ago in the Land of Siam,
Elephants fought alongside men in time of war.
They played critical roles in transportation, as living
vehicles, in times of peace,
with the spirit of good sodiers, ready to fight for
victory.
The elephant also plays an important role in human
belief and religion
as the prior incarnation of Lord Buddha,