ELEPHANTS & IVORY

ASIAN ELEPHANTS
Asian elephants are described as belonging
to a single species, with four distinct and
geographically isolated subspecies (Appendix 1).
The Indian (sometimes called Asian) subspecies
lives on the Asian continent. The other three
subspecies are confined to Sri Lanka, Sumatra,
and Borneo, 25 respectively.
DISTRIBUTION
Going back some 6000 years, Asian elephants
are said to have ranged from West Asia (including
modern day Syria and Iraq), along the Iranian
coast and into the Indian subcontinent, Southeast
Asia, including Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, and up
into central China, at least as far as the Yangtze
River, an area of over 9 million km 2 . 26 Asian
elephants are now extinct in West Asia, Java, and
most of China.
Asian elephants continue to survive in 13
countries. Range states include: Bangladesh,
Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos,
IRAN
Malaysia, Myanmar, Burma, Nepal, Sri Lanka,
Thailand, and Vietnam. Their current fragmented
distribution covers only a fraction of their known
historical range (Figure 2).
NUMBERS
It is impossible to estimate the current numbers
of Asian elephants. Blake and Hedges reviewed
the published “estimates” for total wild Asian
elephants from 1978-2003. 27 They noted that the
frequently cited estimate of about 30,000-50,000,
is really nothing more than an educated guess.
That “estimate” has not changed much in 25
years, despite the major losses of elephant habitat
that have occurred over that time.
The IUCN Red List acknowledges Blake and
Hedges’ assessment but continues to quote a
41,410–52,345 estimate provided by Sukumar
in 2003. 28 The most recent assessment appears
to come from IUCN’s Asian Elephant Specialist
Group in 2004. It revises a few numbers in the
INDIA
SRI LANKA
NEPAL
BHUTAN
BANGLADESH
BAY OF BENGAL
earlier estimate but once again provides a similar
total of 38,535-52,566 Asian elephants. Some
15,535-16,300 Asian elephants are also said to be
held in captivity worldwide. 29 A breakdown of the
purported number of Asian elephants by country
is given in Appendix 3.
CONSERVATION STATUS
The Asian elephant is listed as Endangered on the
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. They have
been included in Appendix I of the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)
since 1978.
MYANMAR
( BURMA )
THAILAND
LAOS
CAMBODIA
MALAYSIA
CHINA
VIETNAM
SOUTH CHINA SEA
SINGAPORE
INDONESIA
BRUNEI
FIGURE 2 | Compiled from various sources;
distribution (in red) from IUCN. 27
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