Indian Elephant - Distribution and Habitat

Distribution and Habitat

Indian elephants are native to mainland Asia: India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Malay Peninsular, Laos, China, Cambodia, and Vietnam. They inhabit grasslands, dry deciduous, moist deciduous, evergreen and semi-evergreen forests. In the early 1990s, their estimated population size was

• 26,390–30,770 in India, where populations are restricted to four general areas:
  • in the Northwest — at the foot of the Himalayas in Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh, ranging from Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary to the Yamuna River;
  • in the Northeast — from the eastern border of Nepal in northern West Bengal through western Assam along the Himalaya foothills as far as the Mishmi Hills, extending into eastern Arunachal Pradesh, the plains of upper Assam, and the foothills of Nagaland, to the Garo Hills of Meghalaya through the Khasi Hills, to parts of the lower Brahmaputra plains and Karbi Plateau; isolated herds occur in Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, and in the Barak Valley districts of Assam:
  • in the central part — in Orissa, Jharkhand, and in the southern part of West Bengal, with some animals wandering into Chattisgarh;
  • in the South — eight populations are fragmented from each other in northern Karnataka, in the crestline of Karnataka–Western Ghats, in Bhadra–Malnad, in Brahmagiri–Nilgiris–Eastern Ghats, in Nilambur–Silent Valley–Coimbatore, in Anamalai–Parambikulam, in Periyar–Srivilliputhur, and one in Agasthyamalai;
• 100–125 in Nepal, where their range is restricted to a few protected areas in the Terai along the border with India. In 2002, estimates ranged from 106 to 172 resident and migratory elephants, with most of them in Bardia National Park;
• 150–250 in Bangladesh, where only isolated populations survive in the Chittagong Hills;
• 250–500 in Bhutan, where their range is limited to protected areas in the south along the border with India;
• 4,000–5,000 in Myanmar, where populations are highly fragmented, and occur in the northern and western hill ranges, in Pegu Yoma of central Myanmar, Tenasserim and Shan State;
• 2,500–3,200 in Thailand, mainly in the mountains along the border with Myanmar, with smaller fragmented populations occurring in the peninsula in the south;
• 2,100–3,100 in Malaysia;
• 500–1,000 Laos, where they remain widely but patchily distributed in forested areas, both in the highlands and lowlands;
• 200–250 in China, where they survive only in the prefectures of Xishuangbanna, Simao, and Lincang of southern Yunnan;
• 250–600 in Cambodia, where they primarily inhabit the mountains of the south-west and in Mondulkiri and Ratanakiri Provinces;
• 70–150 in the southern parts of Vietnam.