Elephant Declared As A National Heritage Animal of India. The Indian Elephant is a subspecies of the Asian elephant and found in mainland Asia or India Subcontinent. About 60% of Elephants in Asia live in India where they have been part of human existence for Times Immemorial. The Current Number Of Indian elephants is about 27,000 And about 3500 are in Captivity.
The Asian species have four sub-species like Sri Lankan, Indian, Bornean, and Sumatran. The Elephant is the largest land mammal in the world and having a lot of cultural and religious aspects. Indian National Heritage Animal, Elephant has separate names of both male and female. They are identified as; the females are called “cow.” The males are known as a bull, and the babies name the calf. The elephants have played a significant role in manual labor, war, royal iconography, and the tourism industry.
National Heritage Animal of India Facts
- Common Name: Elephant
- Scientific Name: Elephas maximus
- Color: They are usually grey in color, and maybe wearing a veil of soil due to dusting and wallowing.
- Length: Length of body and head including trunk is 5.5–6.5 m
- Weight: Males average weight is 4 t and female’s average weight is 2.7 t
- Height: The height of males is 2.75 m while the females are 2.4 m.
- Diet: Elephants eat plants and plant matter in order to gain all of the nutrients that they need to survive. They eat grasses, roots, fruit, and bark. They use their tusks to pull the bark from trees and dig roots out of the ground. Elephants also need plenty of water, which may around 100 liters.
- Cubs: The female elephant gives birth to one calf after a gestation period of 18–22 months, occasionally it may twins.
- Behavior: The Asian elephant follows strict migration routes that by the monsoon season. The eldest elephant of the herd is responsible for remembering the migration route of its herd. Adult females and calves may move about together as groups, but adult males disperse from their mothers upon reaching adolescence. Bull elephants may be solitary or form temporary ‘bachelor groups.
- Lifespan: 65 – 75 years