Asian elephant

About This Project

A colossus on the brink of extinction…

Asian elephants can weigh up to 5 tonnes and African elephants up to 7 tonnes, making the elephant the heaviest of all land animals. As well as its characteristic trunk, it has a highly developed brain and an excellent memory.
Our zoo is home to a single elephant, a female suffering from very bad sight. This is probably why she found the presence of another elephant very stressful… We took the decision not to accept any more elephants and since then she has flourished! In fact, she is not really alone: her keepers take great care of her…

Sadly, elephants are seriously endangered. In both Africa and Asia, poachers are killing them for their tusks and for traditional Chinese medicine and their habitat is progressively being destroyed…

La Barben zoo is working hard to help safeguard them and supports the charity “Des Éléphants et des Hommes”.

Species in the EEP

Latin name: Elephas maximus
Class: Mammalia
Order: Proboscidea
Family: Elephantidae
Size: 2.1 – 3 m tall, 5.5 – 6.4 m long
Weight: 2.7 – 5.4 tonnes
Lifespan: 65 years
Gestation: 22 months
Number of young: 1
Habitat: forest/savannah
Diet: herbivorous
Distribution: India and South-east Asia, including Sumatra and Borneo.
Conservation status: endangered

Category
Mammalia