Elephant Breeding Centre

The road to the Elephant Breeding Center 4 km (21/2 mi.) west of Sauruha passes through a number of Tharu villages. At the time of writing there were 22 elephants and two elephant calves at the center, which is also a mine of information about these fascinating creatures.

The Asian elephant, weighing about 5 tons and standing 2.7 m (9ft) high, is a little smaller than his African cousin. Elephants sleep standing up, about three hours at a time; they are simply too big to lie down. Lying for more than an hour would damage their internal organs. The course of an elephant's life is not dissimilar to that of a human being, working from the age of fifteen to 55, then enjoying about ten years of retirement. When elephants get old their