The Iconic Sri Lankan Elephant

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Elephant Teeth As elephants consume large amounts of plant matter they have developed uniquely adapted teeth. During their lifetime elephants will have 24 molar teeth in six sets on each side of the upper and lower jaw. Only 8 teeth are present at a given time. As a molar wears out a new tooth appears from behind and gradually replaces it. Unlike in other mammals an elephant’s teeth are replaced horizontally. Tusks in an elephant are the growth of the two second incisors of the upper jaw. In the case of African elephants, both males and females bear tusks, whereas in Asian elephants only males bear tusks while females may have short tushes that do not protrude. Less than 11% of males bear tusks In Sri Lanka.
Differences between Male and Female Asian Elephants The male elephant’s back slopes down from the hip while the female elephant’s back is horizontal from the hip. Male Asian elephants may bear tusks while females may only carry small tushes. Female elephants also bear two mammary glands. The male is much taller with a full grown bull reaching up to 9ft, and the female only reaching a maximum of 7.5ft The weight of a well grown adult male is about 5,000kg, while a well grown adult female will only attain about 3,000 kg. Females generally live in herds while the males live in herds only until adolescence and thereafter live solitarily or in bull groups Bull elephants undergo a periodic condition called “musth”during which the animal becomes very aggressive. This condition brings on a significant rise in levels of the reproductive hormone testosterone, which is accompanied by a secretion flowing from the temporal glands on the sides of its head and also the dribbling of urine. Elephants in musth dramatically increase their home range by walking long distances, which is believed to be an adaptation to avoid inbreeding.
Page 1 and 2: THE ICONIC SRI LANKAN ELEPHANT
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 1
Page 5 and 6: The Origins of the Elephant Elephan
Page 7 and 8: The Unique Features the Elephant Th
Page 9: The Elephant’s Ears Similar to th
Page 13 and 14: Distribution of Elephants in Sri La
Page 15 and 16: Keeping Elephants in Captivity Elep
Page 17: Elephants and Human Culture The ele
Page 21 and 22: Tracking the Movements of an Elepha
Page 23 and 24: Human-Elephant Conflict Over the pa
Page 26: Action Taken to Mitigate the Human-

The Iconic Sri Lankan Elephant

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