A
Trunkful
of Knowledge!
<The
information AND photos provided here is not an academic
presentation.
The views expressed are not necessarily
those of the DWNP or
any other body but provided and furnished by The
Elephant Man- based on his
long
hours and
years
of passion,
observations and information exchanges via his visits to
Elephant Sections
in
the Zurich Zoo, Berlin Zoo,
Hamburg Zoo, Prague Zoo, Usti nad Labem Zoo, Rotterdam
Zoo, Anwerpen Zoo, Singapore Zoo & the renowned elephant vet,
Ms Susan Mikota of elephant care international.
Pictures
& information
courtesy of The
Elephant
Man>>
The
Malaysian Elephant
Class ; Mamalia
Order ; Proboscidae
Family ; Elephantidae
Genus/species ; Elephas maximus
Status ; ENED
& TOTALLY PROTECTED
Estimated population ; About 1,500 to 1,800 in
the wilds
of Peninsular Malaysiamainly concentrated in
Taman Negara,
Pahang/Terengganu - Taman Negara Endau Rompin, Johore and Royal Belum
Forest, Perak
and Sabah, East Malaysia.
Malay nicknames ; OBJ
- Orang Besar - Tok Gajah
Our resident elephants are ;
Come
&
meet us!!!!!
MAWAR
- female - Johor @ 7+ years old
Rescued
from the nearby jungles of Felda Mawai, Johore in 2001
Understand commands in
Malay
Loves the
river & likes to lie down on
her
side!
Also has
a habit of offering her trunk for
visitors
to blow into as a means for her to
check
the visitors' moods!!!
Approach
ONLY when
staff
or volunteers
are
around!
|
LASAH -
male
- Perak @ 7+ yrs old
Rescued
from the nearby jungles of Lasah, Perak 2003
Understands command in
Malay & Burmese
Likes to
splatter mud all over his body and
makes a terrific growl!
We almost
lost him in 2004 due to a severe
bout of illness but thanx 2 the great efforts
of
the staff, he's back and is a partner to SURIA!!
Approach
ONLY
when staff
or volunteers
are
around!
|
ABOT -
female
-13+ yrs old
Rescued
from the jungles of Sedili, Johore
The most
intelligent & stubborn over here!
Loves to
sit like a sumo wresler and also has a habit
of making
short squeaking and
trumpeting sounds!
Understand commands in
Malay
Approach
ONLY when
staff or
volunteers
are
around
|
Mentopian -
female - mid 20s
Brought in from Myanmar in
1997 together
with 3 other female elephants <they died on May 31st 2001
when
a freak storm caused a
tree to break
& crushed them>
Understand
commands
in Burmese Approach ONLY when
staff or volunteers
are around!
|
CHALIL- 7+
yrs old male &
rescued from
a well in Gua
Musang, Kelantan 2003.
Understands
command in Malay.
Has an unpredictable behaviour and trained
only by sele3cted staff.
Understand commands
in
Malay
STRICTLY
off limits to the
general public!
|
SURIA -
female
-7+ yrs old
Rescued
from the jungles of Terengganu
and is a prtnet to LASAH!!
Understand commands in
Malay
Approach
ONLY when
staff or
volunteers
are
around
|
CERI- 9+
yrs old female &
rescued from
Kg Pulau
Ceri, Lenggong, Perak this year
Understand
commands
in India
STRICTLY
off limits to the
general public!
|
SELENDANG- 7+
yrs old female &
rescued from
Rompin,
Pahang 7 weeks ago.
Hder left lower leg was sliced off by poachers' snare
constructed from steel cable.
The staff have been working feverishly to heal
the wound and are looking for sponsors of
prosthetic limbs. Anyone our there?
STRICTLY off limits to the
general public!
|
CEK
MEK -
female
- early 60s
Brought
in from Thailand in the early 80s
&
used for the translocation of captured
wild
elephants.
Loves to
offer her mouth and allow the
staff to
handfeed her!
Understand commands in
Thai
STRICTLY
off limits
to the
general
public
|
MEK BUNGA -
female - early 60s
Brought
in from Thailand with Cek Mek & used
for the
same purpose.
Mek Bunga is currently
blind in both eyes and the sanctuary desperately needs to build a
special retirement enclosure
for her.
Any kind hearts out
there to sponsor the
construction of a cheap
but comfortable
enclosure for her?
Understand commands in Thai
STRICTLY
off limits
to the
general
public
|
and also...
BERABUNG - male @ almost 15 months old -
middle
SIPUT - female @ 19 months old -
right
SHAWAL - male @ almost 27 months old
- left
These baby
elephants are kept in an OFF
LIMITS
Quarantine & Treatment
area.
|
It is said that
elephants
talk to one another, mumbling with their
mouths the speech of men.
But to not all is
the
speech of the beasts audible, but only
the men who tame them hear it.'
Oppian, Cynegetica, II,
529-555.
|
'TOP
Like every
kid.....they just want to
have
some fun!
Elephant...is a
beautiful word!
|
The Malaysian elephant is a
member of the Asian
elephant specie which is also found in
India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal,
Burma, Thailand, Laos,
Cambodia, Vietnam and Sumatera.
They were at one time found in almost all of
Peninsular
Malaysia except on the coasts and islands.
They were so many that 17th
century records show elephants were exported and traded for work.
Elephants
have been used in history as modes of transports, as battle animals and
in clearing
forests and was at one time even used to pull
aircraft
into positions!!
They
could have been rated as the most
successful
species on earth –
if not for humans! :o(
Habitat
Elephants favour riverine vegetation
zones in the dry season of late May to late September. During the wet
seasons,
they prefer tall grasses and deciduos forests areas while short grass
and
scrub forests are used
for the months of September to December.
They are also regular
raiders into
oil
palm and fruit plantations in the states of Pahang, Johor, Terengganu,
Kelantan , Kedah and Perak. Incidentally.."
Kedah
" is Thai language for elephant trap!!!
Physical
Characteristics
of young adult & mature adult elephants
a) Average weight of
between 2,500 kg
to 4,500 kg<Average weight
of newly born
elephants
is 90kgs>
b) Average height at
the shoulder is
2.4 metres
sand on
an elephant's body to keep itself cool
& free from insects &
sandflies
|
'There is not any creature so capable
of understanding as an Elephant.
They are apt to learne, remember,
meditate,
and conceive of
such things as a man can hardly perform.'
Edward Topsell, The Historie of
Foure-Footed
Beasts, 1607
c) The thickest skin is
found on the
back and head areas. The thinnest skin is around the mouth, anus and
the
back of the ears.
The elephant's gray skin is only 0.8 to 1.6 inches
thick,
and sparsely covered with hair.
The skin does become pinkish white
with age.
d) The heart weighs an
average of
15kg,
about 0.5% of body weight. The average heart rate is 28 per minute
standing
up and
35 per minutes lying down.
The pulse
will increase when an elephant is lying down and slowest at a standing
position.
e) Typically, there are 5
nails on
each
front foot and 4 nails on each hind foot.
f) The most prominent
adaptation of
the
trunk is that of the upper lip and the nose into the trunk.
This
functions
like a hand and in the Asian elephant has one finger-like projection on
the top.
The trunk has the ability to suck and spray water,
manipulate
objects and grasp and hold large,
heavy objects. Elephants sometimes
beat
the earth with their trunks as a sign of anger, too or as snorkels
when
crossing waterways!
TOP
wanna make a cheap
trunk call
|
feet
|
Wanna hear about the
tail of an elephant?
|
g) The skull weighs an
average of 45
kg. The elephant skull has developed great size to support the massive
trunk
and the heavy dentition. Air spaces and
sinuses fill the skull to
make it lighter, and allow the elephant to
communicate using a low
growl
referred to as an " infrasound " that
carries
for miles.
h) The tusks are actually
the upper
incisor
teeth that grow at a rate of 12 centimetres per year.
i) The longest record tusk
measured
3+
metres long and the heaviest weight is 50+ kg.
j) The elephant’s teeth
have a high
crown
with very rough surface, which enables them to masticate
high
fibre material.
The elephant has one molar on each side
of each jaw, that grinds the plant material. The teeth are replaced by
one of the six molars from the back as they push the
worn teeth out the
front.
At age 60 the last set of teeth are
usually worn out. To process its highly fibrous food the elephant makes
use
of a large cecum, which ferments the food and allows
micro-organisms
to aid in digestion. (The human cecum is
greatly reduced and is called
the appendix.) Still, only 50% of the food is digested - the rest is
excreted
unchanged, thus reseeding
the home range.
k)
The hearing
mechanism is very sensitive. The
huge
ears act as radiators,
to regulate
temperature.
Each ear contains many blood vessels, and the
blood is cooled as the
elephant
flaps its ears.
i can <h>ear
|
i only have eyes 4 u!
|
scratching
|
l) Vision is poor
in daylight<maximum about 30 metres>and is
probably best in dim light.
m) Elephants do not have
tear glands.
The Harderian glands serve
to lubricate
the eyes.
n) Elephants do sleep
lying
down.
o) Elephant
are
not afraid of the mouse - they are just
disoriented whenever they
are approached by
any 4 legged
animals!
Elephants....do
sleep LYING down with
a world class snoring act, too!
i don't like..to sleep alone!
|
Communication
a) Vocalisations consist of trumpets,
growls, snorts, squeaks,
rumbles
and roars.
b) A growl(or rumble)
vocalisation
may
be heard up to 1km away.
This is used as a warning
sound or when the elephant wants to
contact other members of
the herd.
c) Communications is
achieved mainly
through touch, sight,
hearing and smell.
d) The positions of the
head, tail,
ears
and trunks are all used
for the purpose of visual
communications.
e) A recent observation by
our
former volunteer resident
guide " The
Elephant Man
" noted that wild elephants
also communicate by stamping
their foot to send a
message
to fellow elephants hiding
behind bushes!
A three months' hands-on
observation by The
Elephant Man with the
elephants IN the free
enclosure
- up VERY close & personal
- has enabled him to note a tell-tale signs on elephants using EVERY part of their
body to communicate visually!
TOP
Movement
The normal walking speed is
between
4.0 km/h to 6.9km/h. The elephant is capable of increasing this speed
twofold
for an extended period when necessary. When the situation calls for it,
the elephant may charge at a
speed of about 40km/h demolishing shrubs
and
small trees in the process with their ears flat against its head
and
tail
upwards!
take a walk with us!
|
Social Structure
There are 3 groups of wild elephants
which are ;
a) A matriarch
– usually the oldest cow & probably a
grandmother! – her
daughters
and their calves,
forming a
group of between 4 to 8
animals. The matriarch is the
teacher to all members
of her family.
She
is the epitome of women’s liberation!
b) A loose group of young
bulls between the ages of 12 to 15
years. Elephants do not
practise in-breeding
– the matriarch
will always chase out
brooding
young bulls to mate and stay
with another herd.
This
is the most dangerous of the 3 groups
and is more prone to
charging
at humans!
c) Old bull
elephant which has lost its leadership in a herd to
a younger and stronger
bull.
Bull elephants will
only
interact
with the female family units when the cows are sexually receptive.
Activity Cycle
Elephants move usually during the cooler
hours of early morning, evenings and night, preferring to rest
during
the
mid-day hours.
Diet &
Feeding
A wild elephant consumes a
huge variety
and number of plant matter with an adult consuming approximately
70kg
of
plant matter and drink between 70 to 100 litres of water each
day.
They are however…
browsers
-
just like your mouse :o)
Cek Mek grabbing banana stems
&
leaves
|
Reproduction
&
Development
The average gestation period is between
644 to 668 days or 21 to 22 months with single births being typical.
The
average new born calf is about 90 kgs and are weaned after 18 months
but
the mother will care for
the young for several years.
During the birth of a calf
the
members
of the herd will gather around to help " midwife."
The young is born
weighing about 90kgs., and nurses by mouth on one of
the nipples located between the forelegs.
The young will grow rapidly
in
the first few years of life, and will reach 800kgs. by 6 years old.
All female member of the
herd will
take
turns in taking care of the young calf including breast feeding.
The
growth
rate slows when the female reaches 10 to 12 years while that of the
male
decreases when it
reaches 15 years. Young males typically leave the
herd
at the age of 7 to 8 years with the encouragement
of the matriarch. The
sexual maturity is attained at 10 to 12 years.
ALWAYS Proud
to
be EleFriends!
HOME
