The Indian elephant follows strict migration routes that are determined by the monsoon season. The eldest elephant of the Indian elephant herd is responsible for remembering the migration route of its Indian elephant herd. This Indian elephant migration generally takes place between the wet and dry seasons and problems arose when farms where built along the migratory routes of the Indian elephant herds, as the Indian elephants caused a great deal of destruction to the newly founded farmland.
Indian elephants are herbivorous animals meaning that they only eat plants and plant matter in order to gain all of the nutrients that they need to survive. Indian elephants eat a wide variety of vegetation including grasses, leaves, shoots, barks, fruits, nuts and seeds. Indian elephants often use their long trunk to assist them in gathering food.
Due to their large size, Indian elephants have very few predators within their natural environment. Besides human hunters, tigers are the primary predator of the Indian elephant, although they tend to hunt the smaller Indian elephant calves rather than the much larger and stronger adults.
Female Indian elephants are generally able to breed by the time they are 10 years old, and give birth to a single Indian elephant calf after a 22 month gestation period. When the Indian elephant calf is first born, it weighs about 100 kg, and is cared for not only by it's mother by also by other female Indian elephants in the herd (known as aunties). The infant Indian elephant remains with its mother until it is around 5 years old and gains its independence, with males often leaving the herd and female calves staying.
Today, the Indian elephant is considered to be an animal that is in immediate danger of becoming extinct due to the fact that Indian elephant populations have been declining at a critical rate. Indian elephants are thought to be suffering primarily due to habitat loss in the form of deforestation and hunting for their ivory tusks by human poachers.