Asian Elephant

Large herds of elephants once roamed freely throughout Asia’s forests and grasslands. Today, the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) is classified as endangered according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. Estimates range from 30,000 to 50,000 in the wild, with continued declines mainly caused by habitat loss, human-elephant conflict and poaching.

Asian elephants face many threats in the wild, but habitat loss and fragmentation are the primary causes of their decline. All Asian elephant range countries are currently experiencing rapid human population growth. This growth in population accelerates the destruction of the forest, the principal habitat of Asian elephants, through intensive logging, clearing of forested land for agriculture, livestock grazing and infrastructure development for human settlements. As the natural habitat of Asian elephants shrinks, hungry elephants are forced to search for food outside of the forest. Often, these food sources are local villagers’ subsistence crops, such as banana, rice, and cassava plantations, which are damaged by elephants and can result in retaliation by angry villagers. Furthermore, human fatalities regularly result from the clash of humans and elephants - each year in Sri Lanka, more than 100 elephants and 50 people are killed during conflict events. In addition to habitat loss and human-elephant conflict, Asian elephants are also poached regularly for their ivory tusks and other body parts.