The Status of Nepal's Mammals: The National Red List Series - IUCN

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Distribution outside Nepal
Bhutan (Royal Manas National Park), Cambodia,
India (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh
and possibly in Maharashtra, Meghalaya and Orissa),
Myanmar, Thailand.
Main Threats
• Inbreeding.
• Natural disasters (for example, flooding causes
widespread habitat degradation and sweeps
away individuals).
• Human-wildlife conflict.
• Food competition with domestic livestock.
• Hunting for subsistence.
• Disease transmission.
• Habitat degradation (including invasive plant
species).
• Hybridisation with domestic and/or feral
buffalo.
Conservation Measures in Place
None.
Conservation Recommendations
i) Create additional secure populations in Chitwan
National Park and the Babai valley of Bardia National
Park.
ii) Remove domestic livestock from Koshi Tappu
to reduce the risk of disease transmission and to
reduce food competition.
iii) Improve habitat through implementing an
effective management plan for invasive plant
species such as Mikania micrantha.
iv) Improve anti-poaching and patrol-based security
systems to eliminate or minimise poaching.
v) Set up standardised system for collecting and
analysing human-wildlife conflict data, and develop
a sustainable mitigation plan involving all
stakeholders and donor communities.
References
Lydekker 1926, Prater 1971, Lekagul and McNeely 1977, Kushwaha 1986, Bauer 1987, Choudhury 1994,
Suwal and Verheugt 1995, Nowak 1999, Hedges et al. 2008, Baral and Shah 2008, DNPWC 2009b.
8) Elephas maximus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Common Names
Asian Elephant (English); Hatti (Nepali)
Species Description
The largest land animal in Asia. Grey wrinkled skin,
long trunk and large ears. Males have large tusks
whilst females have small dental protuberances
called tushes.
Species Ecology
The Asian Elephant occurs in grasslands, riverine
forest, mixed hardwood forest and agricultural
areas. Asian Elephants are generalists and browse
and graze on a variety of plants, fruit and bark. Main
species in their diet include grass species, such
Saccharum spontaneum, Saccharum bengalensis,
Aundo donex; tree species, such as Mallotus
phillipinensis, Bombax ceiba, Acacia catechu; and a
number of climbers including Bahunia valhi.
Female Asian Elephants become sexually active
between nine and twelve years of age and produce
a single offspring after a gestation period of 20 to 22