ASIAN ELEPHANT
HABITAT/LOCATION: The Asian elephant is found throughout Southeast Asia, the Malay Peninsula, Sri
Lanka, Sumatra, Borneo and the Andaman Islands which are off the coast of India. Elephants can be found in a
variety of habitats from wet evergreen forests to dry thorn scrub brush.
UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS:
 Elephants are the largest living land animal.
 They have the second longest life span of any living land mammal, second only to man.
 Asian elephants have smaller ears than the African elephant.
 Asian elephants have five toes on their front feet and four toes on their back feet.
 Only the male Asian elephant grows tusks. Female, Asian elephants can grow a smaller version called
tushes.
 The trunk is comprised of 150,000 muscles and ligaments and is an incredible piece of engineering used
for smelling, eating, drinking and exploring.
 Four molars weighing 4 kg. each are replaced six times during an elephant’s lifetime.
 Mankind has been training elephants for at least 4,000 years. One elephant has a pulling strength equal
to eight heavy horses; one elephant can pull 70 men across a line during a tug-of-war contest.
 Elephants, like whales, dolphins and manatees, communicate with infrasonic signals for distances of 3
kilometres. Although humans cannot hear the vibrating emissions, we can see when an elephant is
doing this because the skin at the base of its trunk swells and vibrates.
 An elephant’s ears are its natural air-conditioning system. When it is overheated an elephant flaps his
ears. The blood vessels close to the skin surface are fanned thereby cooling the blood, which is
circulated through the body.
 An elephant handler in India is called a “mahout” and in Myanmar he is called an “oozie”.
 Elephants hear and smell much better than humans can.
 Elephants are highly intelligent and it’s true that once they learn something they rarely forget it.
WHAT THEY EAT: The diet of an Asian elephant in captivity includes approximately 100 kilograms of hay,
mixed grains, fruits, and vegetables plus 250 litres of water each, daily. In the wild elephants are known to eat
at least 650 different kinds of plants and trees and they can regularly eat up to 275 kilograms of fresh greens a
day.
SIZE AND WEIGHT: Asian elephants can stand as high as 2.8 metres tall at the shoulders and weigh up to
4,500 kilograms. This is almost the same weight as TWO Jeeps!
REASONS FOR ENDANGERED STATUS: They are classified as an endangered species, CITES Appendix
I (Convention for the International Trade of Endangered Species) because it is estimated that the population in
the wild is less than 35,000. The decline of this species is mainly due to habitat loss.
WHERE TO SEE THEM WHILE “ON SAFARI”: The Asian elephant can be seen at the daily Elephant
Round-Up Show, Elephant Swim and Elephant Lookout on Tusker Trail.
AFRICAN LION SAFARI’S ACHIEVEMENTS: The park is home to 12 elephants, the largest Asian
elephant herd in any zoological facility in North America. Fourteen Asian elephants have been born at the park
since 1991. African Lion Safari continues to maintain the most successful breeding programme for the Asian
elephant in North America. It maintains excellent genetic diversity with 14 calves originating from 6 different
fathers and 6 different mothers. African Lion Safari has had more second generation births than any other
facility in North America. This success is attributed to the healthy and stimulating environment in which they
live. The elephants receive ample exercise daily. They play outside every day of the year. When it is very cold
they can only stay outside for minutes at a time because their ears are sensitive to frostbite. We usually have 10
or 15 elephants in our herd at any one time. As elephants are such social animals we are able to observe a
closely bonded large group. Valuable research is being conducted into the hormonal levels and social
behaviour of elephants in conjunction with the University of Guelph. African Lion Safari is also working very
closely with the Institute for Zoo Biology and Wildlife Research of Berlin to determine ovulation patterns of the
female Asian elephant. It is African Lion Safari’s goal to continue its successful breeding programme for the
endangered Asian elephant to conserve these magnificent animals for future generations.
In October 2006 African Lion Safari was awarded the prestigious Baines Award by Canada’s Accredited Zoos
and Aquariums (CAZA) for its outstanding work with the Asian elephant.
On November 2, 2009 African Lion Safari welcomed the first artificially inseminated elephant in Canada. The
birth represents a culmination of years of research and development.
On August 2, 2013 African Lion Safari welcomed a female calf weighing 309 lbs. named “Nellie”. This birth is
very significant as the calf represents the first “All Canadian” Asian elephant born at the park; as both of
Nellie’s parents were also born at African Lion Safari.
Elephants born at African Lion Safari:
Birth date
April 4, 1991
May 2, 1993
February 27, 1994
December 11, 1994
May 4, 1998
November 29, 1998
October 21, 1999
April 29, 2001
November 4, 2005
April 13, 2006
April 23, 2006
July 15, 2008
November 2, 2009
August 2, 2013
Name
Colonel
Nikolai
Natasha
Piccolo
Samson
Albert
George
Johnson
Opal
Logan
Emily
Chuck
Jake
Nellie
Sex
male
male
female
female
male
male
male
male
female
male
female
male
male
female
Mother
Wimpy
Kitty
Wimpy
Lilly
Kitty
Lilly
Phoebe
Kitty
Natasha
Lilly
Kitty
Mali
Natasha
Natasha
Father
Buke
Tusko
Tusko
Alexander
Calvin
Calvin
Calvin
Calvin
Rex
Rex
Rex
Rex
Rex
Johnson