“Nature’s great masterpiece, an elephant; the only harmless great thing.”
-John Donne
In honour of this year’s World Elephant Day, let us celebrate the mystical, yet majestic world of the gentle giants; the elephants, as we explore the lush canopies of the forests and the grasses of the savannas blessed by the footsteps of these stately beings.
Elephants are the largest land mammals on Earth. The group of organisms called elephants with a common ancestor, belonging to the family Elephantidae, is now mainly classified into three species: the African savanna/bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. The Asian elephant is further classified into three main subspecies: the Indian Asian elephant, the Sumatran Asian elephant and the Sri Lankan Asian elephant.
The African Savanna elephant, scientifically known as Loxodonta Africana, is the largest of all three elephant species. These beings stand around 13 feet tall and weigh up to 7000 kg. They are commonly found in Central and Eastern Africa, including Botswana, Namibia, Kenya, Zambia and Tanzania. They occupy diverse habitats, but are not, however, found in dense tropical rainforests. In African Bush elephants, both female and male sexes have two thick ivory tusks, and they possess creased, grey skin. In the wild, these beings have an approximate life span of about 60–70 years. According to the IUCN Red List, as of March 2021, these elephants are listed as ‘Endangered’ species.
The African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) mostly lives in tropical rainforests. They have slender, downward-pointing tusks. These elephants stand at around 8–10 feet in height and weigh up to about 5400 kg. In this species, males have larger tusks, straighter spines and rounder foreheads than females and are larger than females. During the early 21st century, these elephants were recognized as a separate species from the other African elephants. Although both species were previously considered one, their physiology and behavioural differences have led to their separate classification. These differences include body size, thickness of tusk, ear shape and size of herd. As of March 2021, according to the IUCN Red List, this species has been listed as a ‘Critically Endangered’ species.
Meanwhile, the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) is further classified into three subspecies: as E.m.indicus (Indian), E.m.sumatranus) (Sumatran) and E.m.maximus (Sri Lankan). They weigh about 5500 kg on average and come up to a height of about 6.6–9.8 feet. These elephants, which live up to about 80 years, are commonly found in India, and Sri Lanka, as well as Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. A distinct variation between this species and the African species is the difference in their social structure. These elephants form ‘fission-fusion’groups when herding, unlike the matriarchal system commonly seen in African elephants.
Elephants commonly behave in herds, and are herbivores, feeding on a range of branches, leaves and fruits. They use their trunks, which comprise a large number of muscles, for drinking, feeding, breathing, grabbing, trumpeting and smelling. Their tusks are enlarged incisor teeth, which help in feeding, especially when tearing down branches. These intelligent beings communicate via seismic signals as well, which they detect through their bodies. Elephants are also the mammals to show the longest gestation period of about 22 months.
Elephants have been intricately bound with human lives in various ways since the ages, all over the world. This includes the use of elephants in wars between countries, especially in Asia, and also using the possession of elephants to be depicted and interpreted as a sign of wealth and status. This was very commonly seen among royalty from different countries. The significance of elephants in religious aspects can be confirmed when studying Hindu culture. In their culture, the deity Ganesha, representing wisdom, is seen to have an elephant’s head. In the Ashanti tradition, elephants are seen as human chiefs from the past. In Sri Lanka as well, elephants are used to carry the revered Tooth Relic at the ‘Esala Perahera’ processions. Elephants, often portrayed as wise, just, and benevolent beings, have also been the muses for certain literary works, including ‘An Elephant in the Garden’ by Michael Morpugo and ‘The Elephant Whisperer’ by Lawrence Anthony.
However, these majestic beings are under pressure for survival day by day due to certain factors. The main reasons affecting their survival on Earth and leading them to be classified as ‘Endangered’ and ‘Critically Endangered’ are ivory poaching, human-elephant conflict and habitat loss. According to a recent assessment, the number of African forest elephants has fallen by more than 86% within 31 years, while the African savanna elephant count has fallen by more than 60% within the last 50 years, as of the date of the assessment. It is seen that the majority of this population decline is owing to the ivory poaching of elephants, which is the hunting of elephants to obtain a particularly durable and rare material called ivory, found in elephant tusks. In addition, the encroachment of their habitats by humans leads to human-elephant conflict because of a lack of food resources for elephants, resulting in the construction of electrical wires or shooting by humans, which becomes detrimental to the survival and population number of elephants. Also, anthropogenic activities such as the building of highways and clearing of lands for settlement could affect their jungle corridors, leading them to get lost and stressed and habitat loss could affect their survival rate. Further, factors such as climatic conditions such as droughts may also affect these gentle beings, as they are then forced to move to different locations, thus expending their energy and leading to reduced rates of survival.
“The question is, are we happy to suppose that our grandchildren may never be able to see an elephant except in a picture book?”
- David Attenborough
However, driving all species of elephants to extinction due to human activities could have disastrous effects on the well-being of the biosphere and maintaining ecosystem balance. For example, elephants are an umbrella species and are dubbed ‘ecosystem engineers’, as they make pathways in front, allowing passage for other smaller animals. However, if they were to become extinct, this balance would be destroyed for many other organisms, leading to their consequent extinction due to unfavourable living conditions. Elephants are considered a keystone species. In accordance with the definition of keystone species, an entire ecosystem would break down if a particular keystone species were to go extinct. Also, elephants create micro-ecosystems in the muddy pools they form with their footprints. Along with other organisms, elephants also help battle climate change by improving or enhancing carbon storage in forests. Another important aspect is that a reduction or eventual extinction would cause a loss of biodiversity, affecting all other connected organisms. The use of elephants also extends to seed dispersal, where the seeds consumed by them are spread to different areas.
The vulnerability as well as the majestic demeanour of these beings also make them a highlight for any tourist attraction.
Therefore, it is essential that we take steps to ensure the future survival of these wonderful beings. This could include in-situ conservation, which is to conserve the concerned species in their natural habitat, or ex-situ conservation, which is to take the species out of its’ natural habitat and carry out conservation steps. These types of conservation are done in nature reserves, national parks and zoological gardens. The World Elephant Day, celebrated on the 12th of August, has been established to communicate with the whole world regarding elephant conservation. This day was co-founded by Canadian Patricia Sims, and the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation of Thailand on the 12th of August, 2012. There are numerous ways for each and every citizen to be a part of World Elephant Day, on both institutional as well as individual levels. This includes actively taking part in conservation projects, educating others about the risks faced by the elephants and being a responsible traveler yourself as well.
Written by:
Mokshavi Gunasekara
1st Year Undergraduate
Faculty of Science
University of Colombo
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