Dubbo Western Plains Zoo

Indian Elephant

Elephas maximus indicus

The Elephant's trunk has over 100,000 muscles giving it a very high level of control and strength. The Elephants here can be seen tearing apart wood to eat and enjoying a drink at the water hole.

Asian Elephants can be distinguished from African Elephants by their smaller ears. They are also a little ligher, at a mere 3-5 tonnes! (African Elephants by comparison can weight up to 7 tonnes).

Elephants are herbivores and spend a lot of the day eating - as much as 16 or even 20 hours - consuming up to 300 kilograms of grass and other plant matter per day.

In the wild the Asian elephant population is now estimated to be below 30,000 with about half being in north east India and a further 5,000 or so in the forests of Myanmar.

Photographs by Justin Sullivan. Some text courtesy of Dubbo Western Plains Zoo

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