All elephants have a number of distinctive physical characteristics, the first being their versatile trunk, adapted to picking up food, greeting other elephants, drawing water, breathing and producing sound. The ears of the Asian elephant are smaller and more rounded than the African elephant, and, whereas both male and female African elephants can have tusks, only some male Asian elephants have large tusks. Females and some males instead have tushes, short tusks that rarely protrude beyond the lower lip.

Many forests in Asia depend on elephants for seed dispersal and creating open spaces through which seedlings can grow. These are forests which sequester carbon and release water and oxygen, thereby playing a key role in global climate control.

Elephants live in herds that are presided over by a dominant female. The matriarch, using information passed on by her mother, guides and protects the family, which consists of her sisters, daughters, female cousins and calves. The matriarch’s knowledge of the home range and traditional water sources is vital to the herd’s survival.

Elephants have a 60-70 year life span and reach maturity at 10-15 years old. Pregnancy lasts 22 months and at birth the mother is often helped by other experienced females in the group. The newborn calf relies on its mother’s milk for up to four years and is watched over by the entire herd.

*International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world’s main authority on the conservation status of species.