Some 35,000 Asian elephants are found in India and 12 other countries in SE Asia, while around 400,000 African elephants live in 37 countries south of the Sahara Desert. Habitat Elephants need a large 'home range' to find enough food and water, and will follow 'elephant paths' to migrate from one area to another. Asian elephants generally live in forests. African savannah elephants live on open plains, while African forest elephants inhabit forests. They eat grass, leaves, twigs and bark.
Elephants act as 'nature's gardeners', dispersing undigested plant seeds through their dung.
Behaviour Elephants are a 'keystone species', and help maintain their ecosystem. They create vital pathways and knock over trees allowing smaller species to feed. In droughts they dig down to underground water supplies. Society Elephants feed, rest, travel and play in their close knit family herd, which is led by a dominant older female called a 'matriarch'. Using information passed on by her mother, she guides and protects the family, which consists of her sisters, daughters, cousins and their calves.