Indian Elephant - India Vacation Packages

Indian Elephant is one of the four subspecies of the Asian Elephant. Asian elephants are found in Bhutan, Bangladesh, China, Cambodia, Laos, China, Peninsular Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand.

Habitat of Indian Elephant
Wildlife enthusiasts can get a glimpse of this giant species in the dense forests of wildlife sanctuaries and national parks in India. Indian elephants do not stay in one place and roam around freely in forests and open grounds as they are nomadic in nature. Large number of elephants inhabits the northeastern states of India including Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya.

Physical Features of Indian Elephant
Elephant in India are huge in size, measuring 6.4 m long. The height of Indian elephant ranges between 2 to 2.5 m and weights between 2.7 to 4.5 tonnes. They have small ears, large trunks and broad skulls. Female Indian elephant have no tusks and are smaller in size than male elephant. They have broad and large toes but feet and nails are not so large. The tusks of male elephant never stop growing, whereas in females it is either absent or rudimentary.

Diet of Indian Elephant
Indian Elephant is a herbivores creatures. They eat grass, bushes, fruits, barks, roots, leaves and branches of trees. Elephant grind their food with the help of four high crowned molars with a complex structure. Indian elephant spend up to 20 hours a day for eating and takes about 24 hrs to digest their food. They also feed on cultivated crops such as banana, sugarcane and rice.

Social Structure of Indian Elephant
The elephant species is very soft in nature and not so aggressive mammal. The basic social structure of Indian elephants comprises of ten females, accompanied by their off springs. Young males begin to leave the family group at an age of 6-7 years. Usually mature male elephants prefer to live alone or sometimes they join the small groups.

Elephant uses different ways and methods to communicate with each other. To gather a herd, thundering sound is produced. A alarm signal is done with hollow resonant noise, which is made by tapping the trunk on a hard surface. Displeasure and anger is shown by hitting the ground violently with trunk.

Elephant Safari in India
Indian elephant is a social and well disciplined animal. Interestingly, elephant in India is also used for commercial purpose in the field of tourism. In wildlife sanctuaries and national parks of India, elephant safari is undertaken to explore the wildlife of forests. Elephant safari is considered to be the way to travel inside the wildlife sanctuary and encounter diverse fauna species. Bandhavgarh National Park, Jim Corbett National Park and Dudhwa National Park offers an exclusive opportunities for elephant safari in India.

Status of Indian Elephant
Indian Elephant are listed in endangered species of India. They are threatened by poaching for the ivory of their tusks. The other main cause of their extinction is destruction of elephant habitat by humans.