Largest Elephant
All About The Largest Elephant Ever
No one really knows what the size was of the largest elephant ever, whether it exists today, or more than likely, existed at some time in the past. Today's elephant herds tend to be rather closely tracked, and an over sized pachyderm would very likely be noticed.
The largest elephant, if and when located, would no doubt be an African elephant, as they are significantly larger than their Asian counterparts. It would also most likely be of the Savannah species, that species being larger than the Forest elephant species, and be a male. The Savannah species often will grow to a shoulder height of around 10 feet and weigh in at between 8 and 10 tons. The largest elephant recorded to date was an African Savannah elephant which stood 14 feet at the shoulder, and weighed in at a stunning 13 tons. It was killed by a hunter in 1956 in Angola. Because of the ivory trade, many of the larger elephants were killed off in years past, and the chances are slim that we will ever again come across a 14 foot tall elephant, at least any time soon.
The Asian elephants are somewhat smaller, growing to around 10 feet in height at the shoulder and weighing in the neighborhood of 5 1/2 tons. The largest known Asian elephant is reportedly 12 feet tall at the shoulder. Being a wild bull elephant, his weight is not known. He lives with of a fairly substantial herd in a protected area, a national park in Nepal. Whether he is still alive or not is unknown, as he has not been seen for nearly 4 years. Of the three different sub-species of Asian elephants, the largest is the Sri Lankan elephant, which is found in the southern regions of that island nation. Only about 4,000 Sri Lankan elephants are believed to be alive today, and it is considered to be an endangered species.
The largest elephant herd in existence is thought to be the one in Taman Negrara National Park in Malaysia. The size of the herd has been established at 630, an estimate believed to be quite accurate. The Malaysian government has been taking a very active role in attempting to preserve not only the Asian elephant but other endangered species as well, including the Malaysian tiger, and the leopard.
In being the largest land animal, most everything about the elephant is large. The ears of course come to mind first, but when one considers the size of the teeth (the elephant has four molars plus two tusks) which in an adult can weigh nearly 8 pounds each, you get the idea that everything about this animal is big. The tusks are certainly no exception. The largest elephant tusk on record was 11 1/2 feet long and sported a weight of 236 pounds. It takes a very large animal indeed to carry that around for a lifetime.