Think Elephants: Elephas Maximus Maximus

The Asian elephant is an icon of South Asia, especially in Sri Lanka, and has many roles within the culture.

Elephants are recognized as the largest living land mammals. The elephant family consists of three living species: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. Asian elephants are smaller and have physical differences from their African counterparts. Asian elephants generally have smaller ears, a divot running down the center of their skull, and only some male Asian elephants have tusks, while both male and female African elements grow tusks.

Sri Lanka actually has its own subspecies of Asian elephant, the Elephas maximus maximus, the largest subspecies of Asian elephant. In addition to being taller, it also has more clearly defined patches of depigmentation on its ears, face, trunk, and belly than other Asian subspecies. Although, like the African elephant, Sri Lankan elephant herds are matriarchal, they seem to have less of a strict hierarchy than African elephants, resulting in a more flexible structure when larger groups of Sri Lankan elephants gather.

Sri Lankan elephants are migratory, traveling set routes throughout the island at certain times of the year in search of water and food. These routes are often passed down through herds, with the old matriarch of the herd guiding the rest on their usual path. Sri Lanka is believed to have the highest density of elephants in Asia, although due to some of the forested terrain in which they reside, calculating exact numbers proves difficult.

Elephants have been a part of the culture of Sri Lanka for thousands of years. Not only utilized as domesticated animal labor, elephants also have played an important role in religious and secular ceremonies, as well as in war. While used for transportation of people and goods due to their ability to traverse rough and dense terrain, they are also kept as tourist attractions. Although the lack of demand has dampened domestic breeding of elephants, allegations of poor treatment remain, and enforcement of laws for the protection of both wild and domesticated elephants remains spotty.

Due to loss of habitat, the wild elephant population has also come into increasing conflict with humans. On top of damage to elephants and their habitats caused by the long civil war, the post-war reduction of their habitats has also expanded the conflict, despite harsh legal punishments for injuring or killing wild elephants. The numbers of elephant deaths in recent years has escalated sharply, resulting in fears that the population of Sri Lankan elephants in the wild could fall drastically.