The Asian Elephant is exists in 13 countries. Sri Lanka is amazingly lucky to still boast of possessing almost 10% of the global Asian Elephant population. In Asia there are four subspecies of Elephants have identified. The subspecies Elephas maximus maximus found in Sri Lanka is the largest of the Asian Elephant subspecies. Only a couple of hundred years ago, Sri Lankan Elephants ranged from the scrub forests and grasslands of the dry lowlands to the cloud forests of Horton Plains. Now only a few remain in the Peak Wilderness and Sinharaja. Significant numbers of Sri Lankan Elephants remain in the dry lowlands.
Sri Lankan Elephant is an herbivore. Therefore, an adult elephant eats nearly 150kg of grasses, herbs and thorny plants and drinks around 100 liters of water per day. They spend nearly 16 hours per day for feeding. An adult elephant will grow up to between 6.5 – 11 ft. in height and 2500 – 5000 kg in weight. Elephants are highly social animals, mother and calf are the basic unit of the elephant society. A bond group of Sri Lankan Elephants usually consists of sub adult male siblings, female siblings, mother, aunts and cousins. When a male elephant reaches puberty, it is pushed out of the bond group. Sri Lankan Elephant’s life span will be between 50-70 years. Habitat loss is a major threat for the survival of these majestic giants, listed as endangered by IUCN. According to the census report done in 2011 there were 5,879 Sri Lankan Elephants in Sri Lanka.
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