Sri Lankan Elephant

The Sri Lankan Elephant (elephas maximus maximus), as suggested by its name from Sri Lanka, is the nominate subspecies of the Asian Elephant and is the largest of the subspecies although smaller than the two species of African elephants. It is endemic to the island and is classified as an endangered species under the IUCN Red List. It is called Aliya or Atha in Sinhala and Yannai in Tamil. It is a highly revered creature throughout the country even participating in religious ceremonies like processions.

Description

The Sri Lankan Elephant is generally dark grey in colour and is the darkest of all Asian elephants. It has patches of depigmentation (areas with no skin color) on its ears, face, trunk and belly. The main difference between the Sri Lankan elephant and the African elephant is that the former has smaller ears. The Sri Lankan Elephant tends to grow to around 2 to 3.6 meters in height and 3,000–5,000 kilograms in weight. A unique feature of elephants is their tusks and some grown animals even have tusks. Their skin is around 3–4 cm thick.

Habitat & Diet

Sri Lankan elephants generally live in hot climates. The historical range of the Sri Lankan Elephant includes all Sri Lankan eco-regions: lowland rainforests, montane forest and the Sri Lankan dry-zone forest. Today the Sri Lankan Elephant is extinct from montane forest and occupies mainly dry-zone forests, although a small population lives in rainforests. Udawalawe, Yala, Wilpattu and Minneriya National Parks are prime locations for spotting elephants. It is an herbivore and its diet includes grass, leaves, bark, fallen fruits and palm leaves. Large bulls need nearly 200 kg of food per day.

Behaviour

Usually they stay in the jungle to shelter them from the heat of the sun during the day. They use mud to cover their body against heat. They love the water and can be found swimming in tanks and rivers. Elephant rarely live alone and live in large herds. The oldest female elephant is the leader of the herd. Elephants are also very active in the night. Some people believe that they have grave yards and come near to a water resource when they are about to die. Female elephants give a birth once in 4 years and 2-3 babies in their life span.

Conservation

The main threat for elephants is the human/elephant conflict where humans kill the animals to protect crops and houses. The next greatest threat is deforestation as this leads to loss of habitat and food for the elephants. Other threats include poaching (especially for the ivory trade), drought and capture for domesticity. The Sri Lankan Elephant is protected under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance and killing it carries the death penalty. The government of Sri Lanka plays an active role in the conservation of elephants through programs like the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage in Kegalle treating injured elephants and caring for orphan elephants and the Udawalawe Elephant Transit Centre where orphaned elephant calves are kept until they are released into the habitat.