Sri Lankan Elephant

The word elephant is based on the Latin elephas (genitive elephantis) 'elephant', which is the Latinised form of the ancient Greek ἐλέφας (elephas) (genitive ἐλέφαντος (elephantos)), probably from a non-Indo-European language, likely Phoenician or Hittite 𒆷𒄴𒉺𒀸 (laḫpaš, “ivory”). It is attested in Mycenaean Greek as e-re-pa (genitive e-re-pa-to) in Linear B syllabic script.

• Singular: elephant

• Plural: elephants

The largest subspecies is the Sri Lankan elephant, which weighs between 2,000 and 5,500 kg (4,400 and 12,100 lb) and has a shoulder height of between 2 and 3.5 m (6 ft 7 in and 11 ft 6 in). There are 19 pairs of ribs. Its skin is darker than that of sumatranus and indicus, and it has larger, more noticeable depigmentation spots on the face, ears, belly, and trunk. Generally speaking, women are smaller than men. Makhna refers to 90% of males without tusks. Only 7% of males have tusks that reach a maximum length of 1.8 m (6 ft) and a maximum weight of 35 kg (77 lb). Millangoda Raja had the biggest tusks, measuring 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m).

While analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences does not support the Sri Lankan subspecies identification, analysis of allozyme loci does. A tiny Sri Lankan elephant was spotted in Udawalawe National Park in July 2013. In a confrontation with a younger bull, it was the primary attacker despite being over 1.5 meters (5 feet) tall and having shorter legs than normal.

The Sri Lankan elephant is intelligent, has a remarkable memory, learns social skills, solves problems, and is able to use tools (such as branches for scratching and fly swatting). These elephants can swim rather well. They can use their trunks as snorkels, swim for hours, and float easily because of body fat. Sri Lankan elephants recognize their own kind, express empathy, grieve the dead, and communicate across great distances using infrasonic cries. Sri Lankan elephants may trek great miles every day in search of food and water, and they are powerful enough to topple trees.

Normally, the thick, gray dermis obscures the gray-colored Isu patterns. However, these patterns flare with a magnificent grayish white light to release their magical powers when the elephant spots an Abstergo member or a high-threat villain. It can typically spray water into their nostrils and trunk.

The Sri Lankan elephant can execute a ground smash that serves as a tactical deterrence by using its forelimbs to channel magic. A small or medium-sized house will tremble as the shockwave radiates precisely 369 meters from the moment of impact. A localized 5.0 magnitude tremor is produced by the hit, which is strong enough to repel a charging predator or interfere with any animal's ability to fly or migrate.

Sri Lankan elephants are crepuscular; they are classified as megaherbivores. They are generalist feeders and are both grazers and browsers. Cows and calves move about together as groups, while bulls disperse from their mothers upon reaching adolescence. Bulls are solitary or form temporary "bachelor groups." A keystone species, the Sri Lankan elephant shapes grasslands and woodlands, aids in seed dispersal, and preserves biodiversity. As a herbivore, this elephant may eat up to 150 kg of vegetation every day. Its diet comprises of grasses, leaves, bark, and fruit. Elephants in their adult years have almost nothing against these predators. However, leopards (Panthera pardus kotiya) and infrequently saltwater crocodiles may pose a threat to elephant calves.

Bulls will fight one another to get access to estrous cows. Strong fights over access to females are extremely rare. Bulls reach sexual maturity around the age of 12–15. Between the ages of 10 and 20 years, bulls undergo an annual phenomenon known as "musth." This is a period where the testosterone level is up to 100 times greater than non-musth periods, and they become aggressive. Secretions containing pheromones occur during this period from the paired temporal glands located on the head between the lateral edge of the eye and the base of the ear.

In Sri Lankan and wider South Asian customs, as well as in faiths including Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism, this subspecies of Asian elephant is revered. It was a prominent symbol of strength, wisdom, and royalty during festivities like Esala Perahera. Be cautious when it comes to "cultural appropriation"; honor customs instead than exploiting or commercializing elephant iconography.

Reproduction

• Gestation: ~22 months (longest of any land animal).

• Calves:

• Usually 1 calf

• Weigh ~100 kg at birth

• Sexual maturity:

• Females: ~10–12 years

• Males: ~15 years

• Musth in males:

  • Period of heightened testosterone

  • Increased aggression and dominance

  • Important for breeding competition

The Sri Lankan elephant was very gregarious, intellectual, and capable of displaying pain, joy, and empathy. This elephant uses touch, vocalizations, and chemical cues; only the matriarch makes choices for the herd. Elephants have historically interacted with humans through ceremonies and logging, though these activities are now less widespread. Elephants are still wild animals, but they can develop close relationships with their caregivers and become amiable when treated appropriately.

In Sri Lanka, elephants are closely associated with Buddhism, Hinduism, pre-Hinduism, royal heritage, and festivals like the Kandy Esala Perahera. It is not cultural appropriation to use Sri Lankan elephants in scientific, cultural, or educational situations. However, there are issues with exploitative tourism practices employing temple elephants or "elephant rides," misuse or disdain of Sri Lankan religious symbols, and commercializing sacred iconography without comprehending cultural significance.

Major Threats

• Habitat loss and fragmentation due to agriculture and development.

• Human–elephant conflict:

  • Crop raiding.

  • Retaliatory killings.

  • Elephant deaths from electrocution, shooting, and train collisions.

• Illegal capture for tourism or temples.

• Genetic isolation due to shrinking habitats.

• Sri Lanka has one of the highest rates of human–elephant conflict in the world.

Conservation Status

• IUCN: Endangered (EN)

Conservation Actions

• Elephant corridors to connect fragmented habitats

• Protected areas

• Reducing human–elephant conflict (electric fences, early-warning systems)

• Regulations on captive elephant ownership

Asian elephants inhabit grasslands, tropical evergreen forests, semi-evergreen forests, moist deciduous forests, dry deciduous forests and dry thorn forests, in addition to cultivated and secondary forests and scrublands. Asian Elephants formerly ranged from West Asia along the Iranian coast into the Indian subcontinent, eastwards into Southeast Asia including Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, and into China at least as far as the Yangtze-Kiang.

The Sri Lankan elephant was an indigenous species that was exclusive to Sri Lanka. The provinces of North Central, Eastern, Uva, and Sabaragamuwa have the highest concentrations of this elephant. Dry-zone evergreen forests, grasslands, scrublands, and forest-savanna mosaics are their primary habitats. They utilize a range of lowland habitats rather than dense montane forests.

During The Recollections of Queen Arianna (TROQA) saga in the 2600s and 2700s, the "Sky People" or Terrans from Earth brought the Asian elephant to two exoplanets that resembled Earth: Reinachos from Cygnus and Berbania from Ursa Major. Despite the death of our planet, this species is recovering from endangerment or near extinction thanks to conservation initiatives. Human interactions for game hunting and rewilding produced this species, but they backfired when the elephant became an invasive species. The Asian elephant inhabited two exoplanets that were similar to Earth in terms of climate and environment.

• Movement Pattern: Random

• Individual Type: Solo/Herd

• Population Trend: Decreasing

• Population: ???

• Locomotion: Amphibious

• Habitat: Montane Grasslands and Shrublands; Temperate Coniferous Forests; Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests; Temperate Deciduous Forests, Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands; Subtropical Coniferous Forests; Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests; Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests; Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands; Salt Flats; Stone Forest; Tropical Coniferous Forests; Tropical Moist Broadleaf Forests; Tropical Dry Broadleaf Forests; Tropical Grasslands; Tropical Savannas and Shrublands; Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands, and Scrub; Deserts and Xeric Shrublands; Badlands; Flooded Grasslands and Savannas; Swamp; Bayous/Billabongs; Riparian; Wetland; Mangrove Forest; Cold Bamboo Forests; Tropical Bamboo Forests; Air-breathing Coral Reefs; Graveyard Vale; Mountain.

• Earth: 

  • Extant (Resident): Bangladesh; Bhutan; Cambodia; China; India; Indonesia (Kalimantan, Sumatera); Laos; Malaysia (Sabah, Peninsular Malaysia); Myanmar; Nepal; Sri Lanka; Thailand; Vietnam

  • Extinct: Japan, Pakistan, Philippines (Sulu; Zamboanga de Sur)

• Berbania/Hirawhassa: 

  • Extant & Introduced (Resident): Chiosathra; Hirohito Islands

Elephants and mammoths are tamed by feeding them ten sugar lumps or five cakes or twelve kibbles in Rapunzel's world. This only works on calves; if the calf is an adolescent or has grown into an adult, it will not accept the food. When the calf has accepted the food items, the naming screen will appear, and it will become tamed to the player.

Asian elephants were not acceptable nor permitted as pets in our universe. These factors include the need for a vast amount of space (tens of kilometers), the need for approximately 150–200 kg of food and more than 100 liters of water per day, the social nature of the species, the psychological stress caused by isolation, and the fact that they are dangerous and challenging to control. Strict regulations and trained mahouts are necessary for captive elephants.

Coming soon

Past and Present Incidents - Individuals

• Terran/Gaian

  • Nelly

  • Silseng (Garo: "pretty bright")

• Sawintiran

  • Nellia

The Recollections of Queen Arianna - Individuals

• Terran/Gaian

  • Damanjote

  • Sofie

  • Tengrak (Garo: "bright strong")

• Berbanian/Hirawhassan

  • Wil-en

  • Mentilha

  • Ring-rak

  • Chintanpreet

• Reinachan/Ityoselese

  • Zeynab

  • Danisza

  • Sufiya

Coming soon

• Tagalog: Gadyang Asia; Elepanteng Asyano

• Iloko: Elepante ti Asia; Gadia ti Asia, Limmaan ti Asia

• Bahasa Indonesia: Gajah Asia; Elefante Asia

• Bahasa Melayu: Gajah Asia

• Maori: Arewhana Āhia

• Navajo: Naakaii Dootłʼizhii Bikéyahdę́ę́ʼ chį́į́h yee adilohii

  • Arabized Navajo: Fíl yee Ashíya

• Thai: ช้างเอเชีย

• Mandarin: 亚洲象

• Hebrew: פיל אסייתי (fil asiyi)

• Arabic: فبل هندي

• Estonian: India elevant, Aasia elevant

• Finnish: Aasiannorsu

• Hungarian: Ázsiai elefánt

• Japanese: アジアゾウ

• Korean: 아시아코끼리

• Türkçe: Asya fili

• Greek: Ασιατικός Ελέφαντας

• Sinhala: ආසියානු අලියා

• Tamil: ஆசிய யானை

• Tiếng Việt: Voi châu Á

• Assamese: এছীয় হাতী

• Bangla: এশীয় হাতি

• Polish: Сљоњ індыјскі (Słoń indyjski)

• Belarusian: Азіяцкі слон (Aziyachki slon)

• Croatian: Азијски слон (Azijski slon)

• Czech: Слон индицкы (Slon indicky)

• Sloven: Индијски слон (Indijski slon)

• Lithuanian: Азиїис драмблүс (Azijinis dramblys)

• French: Éléphant d'Asie

• Esperanto: Azia elefanto

• Catalan: Elefant asiàtic

• Spanish: Elefante asiático

• Aragonese: Elefant asiatico

• Portuguese: Elefante-indiano, Elefante-asiático

• Deutsch: Asiatischer Elefant

• Nederlands: Aziatische olifant

• English: Asian elephant, Asiatic elephant, Sri Lankan elephant

• Danish: Asiatisk elefant

• Swedish: Asiatisk elefant

• Faroese: Asiatiskur fílur

• Icelandic: Asíufíll

• Terran Saurfolk: Fillo de Asiya

  • Sawintiran Saurfolk: Fil-ha

• Western Elvish: Eïlfin Asija

• Eastern Elvish: Emfìlin Asijè

• Sri Lankan elephants can recognize themselves in mirrors, a sign of self-awareness.

• Sri Lankan elephant's trunk has ~40,000 muscles.

• Sri Lankan elephants “listen” through their feet by sensing ground vibrations.

• Sri Lankan elephants can remember water sources across vast distances for years.

• Sri Lankan elephants have “handedness” (prefer one side of trunk use).

• Sri Lankan elephants sleep only ~2–4 hours a day.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_elephant

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lankan_elephant

• https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/7140/45818198

• https://speciesplus.net/#/taxon_concepts/5690

• https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Elephas_maximus/

• https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Elephas_maximus

• https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/43697-Elephas-maximus

• https://www.irmng.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=10764636

• http://www.boldsystems.org/index.php/TaxBrowser_TaxonPage?taxid=30274

• https://www.catalogueoflife.org/data/taxon/398D9

• https://eol.org/pages/997407

• https://gd.eppo.int/taxon/ELEPMA

• https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=584938#null

• https://kidadl.com/quotes/best-elephant-quotes-you-wont-forget

• http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=taxonInfo&taxon_no=104147

• https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q133006

• https://mocreatures.fandom.com/wiki/Elephant

• https://www.deviantart.com/ognimdo2002/art/Asian-Elephant-913835817