Asian elephants are smaller than their African counterparts, most noticeably in their ear size. In addition, they are more readily tamed than African elephants and have been used as beasts of burden for more than 4,000 years. Despite their size, their charge speed can reach nearly 50kmph. Though the adult Asian elephant has no natural predators, there are only around 50,000 left in the wild.
KEY FACTS:
DID YOU KNOW?
Elephants are a keystone species. It means they create and maintain the ecosystems in which they live and make it possible for a myriad of plant and animal species to live in those environments as well. In other words, the loss of elephants will gravely affect many species that depend on elephant-maintained ecosystems and cause major habitat chaos, as well as a weakening to the structure and diversity of nature itself. Hence, to lose the elephant is to lose an environmental caretaker and an animal from which we have much to learn.