- Related Scientific Publications
- Adopt an Asian Elephant!
- See Asian Art at the Smithsonian's Freer and Sackler Galleries
- AZA Elephant Species Survival Plan
Elephant Facts
During the Pleistocene epoch (two million to 10,000 years ago), many species of proboscideans—elephants, mammoths, and mastodons—some far larger than their modern relatives, ranged almost worldwide. Most of these became extinct by end of the Pleistocene. Today, only three species of these giant land mammals remain, and they are all threatened by hunting and habitat destruction.
Asian elephants—strong, social, and intelligent—have been trained for thousands of years for use in transportation, labor, and ritual. Here at the National Zoo, keepers train the Asian elephants to provide them with physical and mental exercise and to facilitate routine health and management procedures.
Basic Facts
Asian elephant (Elephas maximus): up to 11,000 pounds;
small ears; one-fingered trunk; convex back; two bumps on
forehead; small tusks, which may be absent in female; endangered.
African
savanna elephant (Loxodonta africana)(right): up
to 13,200 pounds; large ears; two-fingered trunk; concave back;
flat forehead; large tusks; endangered.
Learn more
