Asian
Elephant
IUCN status: Endangered
Where they live:
India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia
and Southern China
Habitat:
Tropical rainforest, freshwater forests
Threats:
What they eat:
In Asian elephants, only males carry tusks
and therefore poaching is aimed exclusively at males. Selectively removing male
tuskers for their ivory may lead to an decrease in males in the population.
Vegetation, fruit, twigs, small branches, bark and roots
Interesting facts:
 Asian
elephants are more closely related to the extinct woolly mammoth
than to African elephants
 The
As the human population is growing so
rapidly, the Asian elephants’ habitat is
shrinking and wild elephants now live in
isolated areas. Roads, plantation and human settlement has further led to habitat
destruction.
ZSL Whipsnade zoo:
Unfortunately, elephants are being taken
from the wild for the live elephants trade,
these elephants go towards the tourism
industry.
 Elephant’s
tusks are elongated teeth
(upper incisors)
four molar teeth wear out and
are replaced by new teeth from the
back of the jaws; the Asian elephant
does this six times through its life
 Ten
elephants share the seven acre
paddock at the Zoo
 Sam
is the youngest born in 2014