Characteristics
The elephant is the largest terrestrial animal that evolved nearly 60 million years ago. An Asian elephant bull can attain a height of 10 feet and a weight upto five tons. Its tusks can measure upto 6 ft (180 cm) long. The female has small tusks, called tushes. Males without tusks are known as “makhna”. The ears of the Asian elephant are much smaller than its African cousin, and the trunk tip has one finger. Elephants are purely vegetarian and in a day an adult can eat 200-300 kg of fodder and drink up to 100 litres of water. They travel in family groups, which often assemble in feeding grounds or around waterholes to form large herds. Adult bulls join the group for mating. Males have glands in the temporal areas between the eyes and ears. These glands periodically produce an oily substance known as ‘musth’ and during these periods the males are excitable and can be dangerous. Such a condition more often coincides with periods of increased sexual activity. Females become sexually mature when they are around 15 years of age. Males at this age are forced to move away from the matriarchal group. Although males are also sexually mature at this age, they get opportunities to mate only when they are around 30 years and capable of competing with other bulls for oestrous females. A single calf is born after a gestation of 18 to 22 months and is nursed for 4 to 5 years. Although a calf is naturally attached to its mother, other cows in the group care for the calf and allo-mothering is reported in captivity. Both males and females can live up to 60 - 70 years.
