Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus)

The Asian elephant, primarily a forest animal, is smaller in size than the African species. It is about 3m tall and weighs about 5 tonnes. Its trunk has fewer rings and is less flexible. Only male Asian elephants have large tusks: the females have such small tusks that they hardly stick out beyond the lips.

The skin colour of Asian elephants is dark grey to brown, with patches of pink on the forehead, the ears, the base of the trunk and chest. They have a high domed forehead and a sloping back. They have only 1 'finger' at the tip of the trunk.

Elephants are big and powerful animals but can still be tamed and trained by humans. In Asia, people have been using elephants for thousands of years to pick and transport logs of wood in timber forests.

Elephant SOS!
Human greed has almost led to the extinction of the Asian elephant, which has been ruthlessly hunted for its ivory tusks. Human beings have destroyed forests in which the elephants live. Scientists believe that there are now fewer than 35,000 wild elephants in the whole of Asia.

WWF is working with Asian governments to save these magnificent animals from extinction. The international trade in ivory has been banned, but growing human populations in Asian countries still poses a grave threat for the future of the elephant.