What Animal Lives Where

Where have Asian elephants been recorded?

Elephas maximus occurrence evidence comes from 4,780 records in 12 countries and territories, from 1833 to 2026. Most records come from United States.

Asian elephant
Asian elephant — Photo (display-sized rendition): Yathin S Krishnappa · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
MammaliaProboscideaElephantidaeElephas

Observation evidence passport

Evidence found

4,780 records across 12 countries and territories, 1833–2026.

Elephas maximus · GBIF taxon key 5219461

Source coverage

CC0 GBIF Animalia occurrence facets, including country, month and year summaries.

Refreshed 2026-09-20. Inspect the taxon on GBIF.

What this means

The species has been recorded in the listed places in the stated source universe. Peak month: August.

12 months reach at least 10% of the peak facet count.

What this does not mean

repeated describes the record pattern, not a formal range, residency, abundance or conservation assessment.

A single record remains evidence of a recording, not proof that a population lives there.

Compare this animal’s observation pattern

When it is recorded

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak month: August. Records cluster in the months an animal is present and being looked for, so a summer peak can reflect observer effort as much as the animal.

Records over time

18332026

Recording effort has risen steeply almost everywhere since the 1990s, so a rising line usually shows more observers rather than more animals.

Where Asian elephant has been recorded

The countries below show where occurrence evidence exists for Asian elephant. They do not define a complete habitat range: survey effort differs by place, and historical or one-off records can appear alongside repeated presence.

PlaceRecordsShare
United States 4,444
India 76
Nepal 68
Sri Lanka 53
Malaysia 44
Thailand 39
Indonesia 21
Myanmar 15
Cambodia 14
China 3
Laos 2
Vietnam 1

Related animals

Others in the family Elephantidae.

African elephant
African elephant
1,296 records
African forest elephant
African forest elephant
18 records
Record pattern: repeated
Repeated records across many years and months. This is inferred from how many years and months the animal appears in, not from a range map — treat it as evidence, not a formal assessment.