The elephant Encyclopedia and Database

Elephant Encyclopedia - information and database - established 1995

The Elephant Encyclopedia

Welcome to the Elephant encyclopedia and database www.elephant.se, owned and managed by elephant consultant Dan Koehl. (CV (pdf) | ORCID | Wikipedia article | Blog)

Created in 1995, with over 31 years online, this is the oldest website about elephants, probably the largest online database of animal individuals ever made, and possibly the oldest online encyclopedia in general. The Elephant encyclopedia sections like Elephant Anatomy (with 48 pages), a section within the The Elephant Glossary (with 435 terms like Free Contact, Protected Contact and No Contact) and Frequently asked questions about elephants (FAQ). See the page about use and search instructions where you learn how to search, find and select records Or browse the + 30 000 pages directory below:

Browse the Encyclopedia directory with a first letter

The Elephant Database

The Global Elephant Database (GED) is the largest online elephant database in the world and also possibly the largest database of animal individual animal records. Updated almost daily it presently presents a total of 17898 elephants of which 9287 are captive living elephants and 688 wild living elephants , from 4218 location facilities from 125 countries in 6 continent regions, as a neutral unbiased documentation. Theres also records of 7923 dead elephants from living and extinct species, as well as a list of almost 200 fossils and dead speciemens of Proboscideans on display in Museums. For statistics and overview, see summarize and graphical statistics and the latest changes in the elephant database. (RSS) On most pages sources for the individual records are declared on the bottom of the page, while a more generic presention is compiled at the page about sources and contributors.

The Elephant Person Database

Since 2024, there is also a section with 5112 persons affiliated with elephants, from 2324 families, including historic genealogical research, in some cases upto 8 generations, when available and relevant. A new database project is a list of people attacked by captive elephants, which however, seldom include the apr. 500 deaths annually due to Human-Elephant Conflict, when wild elephants killed people.

The Year Database

You can also search and browse for a certain year, like 2026 to see and overview of persons births, marriages, deaths and who started a new work a certain year, persons attacked by elephants, or locations started or closed a certain year, elephant imports, elephant births and deaths a certain year, presented in a semi-news magazine layout.

Browse the Encyclopedia directory on a specific year

The Book Database

You can also search for a certain keyword in the list of 154 books about elephants or relevant topics. The books are cross linked to persons and locations.

The Scientific Article Database

You can also search for a certain keyword in the list of 27 scientific academic articles about elephants or relevant topics. The articles are cross linked to persons and locations.

Regional elephant lists

American studbook * Australasian Region Asian Elephant Studbook * European studbook * Japanese studbook * captive elephants from Andaman Islands, India * captive elephants from Jaipur in Rajastan, India * captive elephants from Karnataka, India * captive elephants from Kerala, India * captive elephants from West bengal, India (under construction) * captive elephants from Sumatra Island, Indonesia (under construction) *, and captive elephants from Tamil Nadu, India * Orphans at David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya * wild elephants submitted in Amboseli Elephant Research Project (AERP) ( under construction)

Elephant breeding topics

elephant breeding overview and list of pregnant females * All breeding cows * All breeding bulls * birth weights * stillbirths * castrated bulls * artificial insemination

The 5 Most Recent Elephant Births

Sex Species Name	Birth	Parents	Birth location
† ♂ EM Unnamed	2026-06-01	Thai x Indi	Zurich Zoo
♂ EM Unnamed	2026-05-16	Sidor Bun x Mai	Chiang Mai Province unspecified camp
♀ EM Unnamed	2026-05-14	Bormaepho x Mae Dee	Mae Wang Elephant Camp
♂ EM Unnamed	2026-05-13	Pornchai x Skaduen	Chonburi province
♂ EM Raj	2026-04-25	Maurice x Kina	Amersfoort Zoo
Elephants born in: 2026 \| 2025 \| 2024 \| 2023 \| 2022 \| 2021 \| 2020 \| 2019 \| 2018 \| 2017 \| 2016 \| 2015 \| 2014 \| 2013 \| 2012 \| 2011 \| 2010 \| 2009 \| 2008 \| 2007 \| 2006 \| 2005 \| 2004 \| 2003 \| 2002 \| 2001 \| 2000

The 5 Most Recent Elephant Transfers

Sex Species Name	Birth	Arrival	From
♂ LA Sdudla	1990	2026-06-00 to San Diego Zoo Safari Park	Lowry Park Zoo
♀ LA Tika	2007-07-13	2026-05-28 to Basel Zoo	Wuppertal Zoo
♀ LA Mali	2022-10-14	2026-05-28 to Basel Zoo	Wuppertal Zoo
♀ LA Kimana	2020-04-20	2026-05-28 to Basel Zoo	Wuppertal Zoo
♂ EM Heiyanthuduwe Rama	1969	2026-05-24 to Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara temple	Heiyanthuduwe Gunasekera family estate
Elephants transfered in: 2026 \| 2025 \| 2024 \| 2023 \| 2022 \| 2021 \| 2020 \| 2019 \| 2018 \| 2017 \| 2016 \| 2015 \| 2014 \| 2013 \| 2012 \| 2011 \| 2010 \| 2009 \| 2008 \| 2007 \| 2006 \| 2005 \| 2004 \| 2003 \| 2002 \| 2001 \| 2000.

Reasons for elephant deaths

euthanised * poisoned * falling into moats * mankillers various diseases like * Anthrax * Arthritis * Elephant Pox * Cancer * Colic * Herpesvirus * Pneumonia * Rabies * Tetanus * Tuberculosis * Viral EMC - Elephant Encephalomyocarditis virus

The 5 Most Recent Elephant Deaths

Sex Species Name	Death Reason Age Birth	Arrival Location
† ♂ EM Unnamed	2026-06-02 Age 0 Born 2026-06-01	2026-06-01 Zurich Zoo
† ♀ LA Toka	2026-05-29 unknown Age 56 Born 1970	2013-10-21 PAWS ARK 2000
† ♀ EM Happy	2026-05-26 euthanised Age 55 Born 1971	1977-03-21 Bronx Zoo
† ♂ EM Chillikomban (Sullikomban)	2026-05-23 Drowned Age ? Born	2026-04-00 Coimbatore forest division
† ♀ LA Ulu	2026-05-22 unknown Age 30 Born 1996	2003-04-12 Zlin Lesna-Got Zoo
Elephants dead in: 2026 \| 2025 \| 2024 \| 2023 \| 2022 \| 2021 \| 2020 \| 2019 \| 2018 \| 2017 \| 2016 \| 2015 \| 2014 \| 2013 \| 2012 \| 2011 \| 2010 \| 2009 \| 2008 \| 2007 \| 2006 \| 2005 \| 2004 \| 2003 \| 2002 \| 2001 \| 2000.

5 oldest dead elephants

Among oldest dead elephants in the database with confirmed birth year is Lin wang (min 86), Lakshmikutty (min. 84), Rhani (min. 83), Shirley (77-78), Shirley (72-73), Savannah (min. 71), Big Gentry Babe (min. 70).

10 Oldest living elephants with confirmed birth or earliest arrival records

Nr	Age	Sex Species Name	Birth	Present location
1	73	♀ EM MoMo	1953	Yangon Zoo (Rangoon Zoo)
2	72	♀ EM Anne	1954	Longleat Safari Park
3	68	♀ EM Honey	1958	Zooparque Itatiba
4	67	♀ EM Gulab	1959	Prague Zoo
5	67	♀ EM Vana	1959	Platschow Elefantenhof
6	67	♀ EM Carla	1959	Chiccoland Zoo (Wille-Kinderzoo)
7	66	♀ EM Baby	1960	Krakow Zoo
8	66	♀ EM Zina (Zita, Siena)	1960	Little Rock Zoological Gardens
9	65	♀ EM Baby	1961	Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation
10	65	♀ EM Honney Ball	1961	Africam Safari (Puebla Zoo)

20 possibly oldest living elephants by claim, but with unconfirmed birth or earliest arrival records

Please note that many people in Asian countries, especially India and Thailand, often believe when a Mahout or an elephant owner claim their elephants are very old, like 70, 80, 90, 100 years, or even older. Mostly, in such cases there is however no proof or confirming documents that makes the birth record valid from a scientific point of view.

Whenever someone claim a sensational age, it is most likely based on rumors and beliefs, but with no evidence.

Nr	Age	Sex Species Name	Claimed Birth	Present location
1	84	♂ EM Kottoor Soman	1942?	Kottoor elephant rehabilitation centre (ERC)
2	80	♂ EM Moni	1946?	Kottoor elephant rehabilitation centre (ERC)
3	78	♂ EM Rajmangal	1948?	Chhat Bir Zoo (Mahinder Singh Zoological park)
4	77	♂ EM Do	1949	H Mui
5	77	♂ EM Bijli Prasad	1949	India Forest Department of Andaman (FDA)
6	76	♂ EM Andal	1950	Top Slip Kozhikkamuthy Elephant camp (Annaimalai)
7	75	♀ EM Bua Ban	1951	Thailand unspecified location
8	75	♀ EM Sombourn	1951	Surin elephant study center (Ban Ta Klang Elephant Village)
9	75	♂ EM Boonsermsong	1951	Surin elephant kingdom (Ban Ta Klang elephant village)
10	75	♂ EM Pho-ngen	1951	Surin elephant kingdom (Ban Ta Klang elephant village)
11	75	♀ EM Ta Bet	1951-04-25	Pon Elephant
12	74	♀ EM Roongsap	1952	Ayutthaya Royal Elephant Kraal
13	74	♀ LA Amy	1952?	Amboseli National Park
14	73	♀ EM Baby	1953	Bannerghatta Biological Park Zoo
15	73	♂ EM Anura	1953	Tama Zoological Park
16	72	♂ EM Kuttikrishnan	1954	Guruvayur Devaswom elephant camp
17	72	♂ EM Gajendra	1954	Mathigodu elephant Camp
18	72	♂ EM Jao Thong	1954	Phuket Elephant Sanctuary
19	72	♀ EM Wassana	1954	Phuket Zoo
20	72	♀ EM Kham	1954	Mekong Elephant Park

You can also browse the Encyclopedia with a first letter

You can also browse the Elephant Encyclopedia for different years