Elephants

Elephants visit Acres Wild first time in 2006

(Photo by S. Gopalakrishnan, contractor for works at Acres Wild)

Elephants have started coming up to the Nilgiris since 2006.  Here are some photos of the family of elephants that made regular visits to Acres Wild over a period of 2 months, starting from August and September 2006. I had always known that elephants were there a bit lower down the Nilgiri hills but never seen them (except all the way down in the plains in Madhumalai jungle). When they first came to Acres Wild we were thrilled but later a bit worried looking at the destruction they did - breaking trees, our newly made adobe bricks and the pillars of new cottage.

2 April 2007 - The elephants are back and earlier this year. This time there are 5 of them. They broke a lot of the bricks we had made locally on the land. Now it is becoming a pattern around this time of the year and it is very likely that they are coming for food and water as things dry up in the lower altitudes. Maybe some elephant corridor has been disturbed too.

Elephants Revisit us in April 2007.

25 June 2007 - We spent last night in our first cottage at Acres Wild. It was an on the spur of the moment plan to inaugurate the farm and we were greeted with news that elephants were around. As the sun was setting we could hear them trumpeting in the grove of trees in the neighbouring plot as in the photo on the right below. We kept an eye open for them but all was well for the night. Next day after we left the elephants came into the land again as we could see their foot prints and dung.

Elephants return 3rd Year in 2008

16 July 2008 - Elephants visit third year in a row. After a few days visit a month back we thought the elephants had gone back down towards Burliyar where they hang out the rest of the year.  But few days back they returned and this time they are planning to stay for a long time.  Apart from keeping out of their way we have to hope that they will not rip up our fruit trees which for some strange reason they love doing.  That is the destructive part.  But they can do a lot more to our structures too.  Wonder what is going to be the long term outcome.  Of course it is exciting and that is why we call our place Acres Wild.

Here are some facts I collected about Asian elephants.

Statistics
Length: 5.5 - 6.40m,

Shoulder height: 2.5-3m,

Weight: Male: 5000kg, Female: 3000kg.

Life Span
Life span is about 50-60 years. Asian elephants live for 70 years.

Physical Description
Asian elephants are smaller in size than African elephants. They also have smaller ears, more rounded back, and a fourth toenail on each of their hind feet. They have thick, dry skin with a small amount of stiff hair, and are grey to brown in colour. Female Asian elephants have rudimentary tusks.

Distribution
Asian elephants have an extensive range across India and Sri Lanka and also occur further south and east as far as Sumatra.

Habitat
Dense tropical forests and grassy plains up to 10,000 feet. Asian elephants are spread over areas where rainfall levels vary considerably. They can survive in dry places where less than 40cm of rain falls per year, and in wet areas where over 8m of rain can fall in a year.

Diet
Elephants are vegetarians and their varied diet, includes grasses, bamboo, legumes, bark, succulent climbers, creepers and palms. They have seasonal favourite's such as fig leaves and fruits, tamarind, wood apple and mango. Soil is eaten for its mineral content.

Here at Acres Wild I have noticed they like the pears.

The Asian elephant requires less food than the African elephant because of the diversity and quality of food found in its more lush native habitat.

Behaviour
Asian elephants live in family units of one adult cow and her offspring. Daughters remain with their mothers, but sons leave at puberty, often joining bull groups or remaining solitary. Bull elephants associate with a family when a cow is in oestrus.

This species does not appear to be territorial. Males have home ranges of about 15 square km, and herds of females have ranges of about 30 square km, which increases in the dry season. Seasonal migration has been made virtually impossible, due to human development.

Reproduction
Females usually have one calf after a gestation period of 18-22 months and give birth every three to four years. The calves weigh about 100kg at birth and suckle for about 18 months. They can eat some vegetation after several months.

Conservation status
Asian elephants are classified as Endangered by the 2000 IUCN Red List. They have long since vanished from Southwest Asia and most of China. Sri Lanka was once recognised for its large elephant populations, but today the numbers are being reduced.

As the number of humans increases, the area of natural habitat that the elephants rely on is being depleted. Elephants are being forced onto farming areas, where they cause damage. It is estimated that 28,000 to 42,000 Asian elephants remain in the wild.

Interesting Facts.

• Elephants normally walk about 4 mph
• Elephants are able to swim for long distances
• Elephants spend about 16 hours a day eating
• Their tusks are of ivory and are actually enormously enlarged incisors
• The Indian Elephant's eyes are small and its eyesight is poor
• Elephants have the largest brains in the animal kingdom
• It was always thought that there were two species of elephant in the world -- the African savanna elephant(Loxodonta africana) and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). But now, through DNA testing, it has been discovered that there is a third elephant species -- the African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis).
• Most elephants found on Sri Lanka, male or female, have no tusks.
• The trunk has no bones. Nearly 150,000 muscles and nerves provide flexibility.
• Elephants trunks are an elongation of the nose and upper lip.
• Tusks continued to grow throughout the elephant's life.
• Elephants appear to have a dominant side and use one tusk more than the other in food gathering. As a result of this dominance, the preferred tusk usually has a blunter tip and a thicker diameter than the other tusk.
• Elephants walk well-worn trails that have been used for centuries. These trail lead to favorite watering places. The ability to find water is critical to their survival.
• When elephants charge, they fan out their ears and either roll up their trunk or hold it to the side to get it out of the way.
• Elephants often take up to 18 quarts of water into their trunks at once.
• When grasses are too short to be picked up with its trunk, the elephant scrapes the ground with its forefeet until a loose pile of grasses is formed, then sweeps the pile into its mouth with the "hand" of the trunk.
• Elephants place their trunks in their mouths and blow water down their throats.
• Elephants can also put their trunks into their mouths and extract water from their stomachs. They spray the water on themselves in order to cool off.
• Patterns on the bottom of an elephant's foot are as individualistic as a human's fingerprints.
• Older elephants rarely lie down. It is quite difficult for them to get up. Younger ellies frequently will lie down.
• When elephants sit and then rise, they extend their front legs and rest their weight on their knees. They then tip forward and heave themselves up on hind feet.
• Elephants often rest by raising one foot and crossing it behind another.
• Elephants have quite small eyes in relationship to their size. They have long stiff, eyelashes to protect their eyes.
• Elephants sniff each other all over when they meet. By doing this, they are able to recognize one another individually.

Family Life

• Family unit is herd.
• A herd contains from 20 to 40 elephants of all ages . Males are called Bulls.
• Females are called Cows.
• Leader is usually an old cow called a Matriarch
• Groups of 6 to 8 males, 10 to 12 years old - form separate bachelor herds.
• Huge Patriarchs of bulls often end up living alone or forming clusters of 2 or 3 individuals.
• Elephants show great deal of affection for each other in a family unit.
• Mating involves foreplay of touching and caressing. This takes place during 'Rutting' season.
• Cows are usually receptive during the rainy season and some scientists be live that females are Quasiperpetual Estrus
• Males are in 'musth', as it is usually called during mating season. This sometimes causes bulls to go mad as they trample down everything that crosses their path.
• Gestation period after mating is about 22 months.
• The cow generally bear young no often than once every 4 to 5 years.
• Cows usually give birth to a single calf weighing about 200 pounds and standing about 3 feet.
• The calves are nursed by their mothers for about 2 years and stays with the mother for 2 years more for protection.
• Elephants usually feed at night.
• Elephants generally do not travel by daylight except in cool, cloudy weather or when troubled by hunters (human or animal).

Elephants and Humans.

Elephants are regarded as among the most intelligent of mammals and can be trained to work and to perform. Indian elephants are extensively used as beasts of burden, especially in teak forests, where they carry logs with their trunks. They are not considered truly domesticated as they do not breed well in captivity. Young animals are captured from the wild. Training and handling take skill. Elephants have complex emotions and vary individually in temperament. African elephants are often said to be less tractable, but they too were formerly used for work, as well as for warfare. Hannibal's army crossed the Alps using African elephants, which were at that time probably found in the Atlas Mountains. Elephants seen in zoos and circuses are usually of the Indian species. Although the famous Jumbo, who toured the United States in the late 19th century giving rides to children, was an African elephant. In Thailand and Myanmar (Burma), albino elephants have long been held sacred. Elephants have been extensively hunted for food and for ivory. Their numbers are now greatly reduced. However, they are now afforded protection in certain areas.

The Threat to Elephants.

The diminishing number of elephants, to a large extent the result of wholesale slaughter for tusks, and the resulting increased cost of ivory have encouraged the making of imitations and the use of natural substitutes. One strategy for controlling the slaughter of elephants for their ivory is to permit a regulated trade that would reduce poaching and provide profit to Africans, but not deplete the elephant population. Most recently, however, countries that supply and consume ivory have enacted a complete ban on ivory trade. A new method of determining the origin of a tusk by using DNA or radio isotopes will help zoologists to fight poaching.