ESSAY by: Mafalda Rias

Asian Elephants
In this Essay I will talk about the Asian Elephants, this is because it is 1 in more than 27.000 species
that are endangered and I want to raise awareness of this, since there are a lot of people that don´t
know that this is happening in the world (The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species). This text will tell
you the characteristics of Asian elephants, were they live, what they eat, why they are endangered,
what are scientists doing to prevent their extinction and at the end I will have a small conclusion. In
my opinion it´s very important to talk about this topic since these changes in Asian Elephant´s lives
are our fault so now we should solve this disaster. Let´s get to it!

Figure 1: How many species are threatened with extinction (The IUCN Red List of Threatened
Species)

Before I start I will explain what the term endangered species means so you can understand the
whole meaning of this Essay. Endangered species is or a plant or an animal that are in danger of
being extinct, extinct species are animals or plants that don´t exist in the world anymore. Now that
you know what endangered species and extinct means I will start.

I´m very excited to talk about this amazing animal since they behave in ways similar to humans,
because Elephants form deep bonds with their families. They live in family groups formed by females
that are related, this group is called a herd. The herd is led by the oldest female that is called a
matriarch (World Wildlife Fund). Herds can have approximately from 12 to 15 individuals. All male
elephants leave the herd between the ages of 12 to 15, these will go and spend time with other male
elephants or spend their time alone, this is why there are no male Matriarchs. (Basic Facts About
Elephants).When a baby is born, it is not only raised by it´s mother but also by the whole herd, if the
baby or any elephant is in danger the whole herd will go and help by making a circle where the
stronger and older elephants are in the outside part and the babies and young elephants are in the
inside. To protect themselves these huge animals also use their trunks and tusks. Asian elephants
don´t really have any natural predators, we humans are mainly the ones that try to kill them to get
their tusks and bones because they are very valuable, but besides from us only the small elephants
can be attract by tigers (Asian Elephant: The Animal Files).
Figure 2: Two Asian elephants fighting (Smithsonian.com, 10th of May 2017)

Elephants have an extremely good memory and an incredible intelligence. This is why the older
elephants are the leaders of the herds, they have more experience and because of their great
memory they can lead the group to places with water and food that they remember from their
childhood. (Basic Facts About Elephants)

Figure 3: Asian Elephant herb(Mongabay, 28th od February 2019)

Asian elephants as I previously said are endangered and there are fewer than 50.000 in the whole
world (The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species). Asian elephants can live in tropical forests and
grasslands of Southeast Asia (Asian Elephant Animal Profile, 13 Oct. 2015). They are mammals which
means that they don´t lay eggs. Asian elephants are herbivores which means that they only eat
grasses, leaves, bamboo, bark and roots.

Now I´m going to tell you why elephants are endangered in the first place. This is because of
humans and climate change. We have a big role in the reason why Asian elephants are endangered,
because of our selfishness and our desire for money we are hunting and killing these amazing
creatures just to get their tusks. This is not acceptable and that’s why it has to change.

Climate change, this is also a very important factor in why Asian elephants are close to extinction.
Climate change makes water more difficult to find. If the places were the matriarchs take their herds
are dried up then the next place with water could be kilometres away and some of the elephants get
lost or can´t keep up.
Figure 4: Asian Elephants walking to get to water (Kusnetz, 15th of Februrary 2017)

Scientists are already trying to help these animals by using different strategies to promote this cause.
One of the strategies scientists are using to save these gorgeous animals is trying to prevent the
conflict between people and elephants, because as I explained earlier one of the big reasons why
Asian elephants are endangered is because of humans so us trying to resolve what we did, in my
opinion, is already an improvement. This means they are promoting elephant-friendly policies all
around the world.

The other thing threatening these creatures is climate change, however this is a problem affecting
everyone not just Asian elephants so humans are already trying to change it by attempting to reduce
the greenhouse gases since that is what is causing climate change. By protecting Asian elephant´s
habitats they are increasing their number which is a step forward towards our goal, saving Asian
elephants from extinction (Asian Elephants).

In conclusion humans are affecting a lot of animals and that is not fair for them, they were here
first and we are messing with their habitats and their lives. I will repeat what I said before, we are
being blinded by our selfishness and our desire for money. We have to be all united to save not only
Asian elephants but all the other endangered species. In my opinion it is great that scientists are
already trying to change this, but all together we can make a more significant difference. I deeply
hope that this ESSAY has inspired you and putted a question in your mind: How can I possibly help
this specie to survive instead of getting extinct?

Figure 5: Poster saying: Save the Asian elephants (Redbubble)

 Work sited
Online text
“'SAVE THE ASIAN ELEPHANT' Poster by Truthtopower.” Redbubble,
www.redbubble.com/people/truthtopower/works/20367865-save-the-asian-elephant?p=poster.

“Asian Elephant Herds Lack Clear Matriarchs, Strict Hierarchies: New Study.” Mongabay
Environmental News, 28 Feb. 2019, news.mongabay.com/2016/10/asian-elephant-herds-lack-clear-
matriarchs-strict-hierarchies-new-study/.

“Appalled by the Illegal Trade in Elephant Ivory, a Biologist Decided to Make His Own.”
Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 10 May 2017, www.smithsonianmag.com/science-
nature/faking-elephant-ivory-180963226/.

Kusnetz, Nicholas, et al. “Climate Change Is Worse for Many Species than Previously Thought, New
Study Says.” InsideClimate News, 15 Feb. 2017, insideclimatenews.org/news/14022017/climate-
change-endangered-species.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.” IUCN Red List of Threatened Species,
www.iucnredlist.org/species/7140/12828813.

“Asian Elephants.” WCS.org, www.wcs.org/our-work/species/asian-elephants.

“Basic Facts About Elephants.” Defenders of Wildlife, 10 Jan. 2019, defenders.org/elephant/basic-

facts.

“Asian Elephant Animal Profile.” Animal Profile, 13 Oct. 2015,

kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/asian-elephant/#three-asian-elephants.jpg.

“Asian Elephant.” WWF, World Wildlife Fund, www.worldwildlife.org/species/asian-elephant.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.” IUCN Red List of Threatened Species,
www.iucnredlist.org/species/7140/12828813.

Asian Elephant: The Animal Files,

www.theanimalfiles.com/mammals/elephants/asian_elephant.html.