If we don't help, we will see the day when the Asian elephant becomes extinct. It is the Asian elephant which is in the greatest danger of nearing extinction. The African elephant, which faces potential harm, as well, is not nearly as threatened and is not on the endangered species list. The Asian elephant is smaller, has smaller ears, and a humped back. They also have four nails on their hind feet.
African elephants have three nails.
The Asian elephants are more easily trained and friendly toward man. It is the Asian elephants that most of us grew up watching in the circuses and have seen at the zoo. The decrease in the population can be attributed to poaching, capture for physical labor and commercial exploitation, and a loss of natural habitat due to an increase of farmland and commercial development. There continues to be illegal poaching for the ivory tusks, murder of mother elephants for the captivity of their babies to train in circus acts and for commercial exploitation, and the separation of young elephants from the herd to domesticate for physical labor. In many cases the domesticated elephants have been abandoned or abused by their owners because the cost of caring for them has become prohibitive.