🇹🇭Thailand·National Animal·since 1963
🐘Thai Elephant
A sacred white elephant once meant royal power.
The Thai elephant — a subspecies of the Asian elephant — has been culturally central to Thailand for over 700 years. The country observes National Elephant Day on March 13. White elephants in particular were historically considered royal property and a sign of divine kingship.
Why this animal?
Elephants were Thailand's primary war animals, forestry workers, and royal symbols for centuries. The image of a three-headed elephant ('Erawan') appears on the Royal Thai Coat of Arms.
Things to know
- ·Thailand had over 100,000 elephants in 1900; today the wild population is about 3,000–4,000.
- ·Asian elephants have smaller, rounder ears than African elephants and a single 'finger' on their trunk tip (African elephants have two).
- ·Elephants greet each other by intertwining trunks — a behavior comparable to a handshake.
- ·They mourn their dead, returning to the bones of departed family members and gently touching them.
- ·Elephants can hear infrasound calls from over 5 km away, communicating below human hearing range.