The Forest For The Trees (Asian Elephant)

8″x 10″

Mixed media on paper.

The Asian Elephant is the largest land mammal in Asia. They have been listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1986. Over the last 60-75 years their population has declined by approximately 50 percent. The Asian elephant faces threats from habitat loss, habitat degradation, habitat fragmentation and poaching.

Asian elephants are highly intelligent. Some elephant experts argue they are self-aware. Studies have concluded that asian elephants have the cognitive abilities for tool use and tool making. Their wide variety of behaviors include grief, learning, mimicry, allmothering, altruism, play, compassion, cooperation, self-awareness, memory and language. They have a very large, convoluted neocortex, a trait also shared by humans, apes and certain dolphins.