This review makes a good companion to the first one I submitted, which is essentially a plush version of this plastic figure. An Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) female, with the classic smiling mouth, double-domed head, and convex curve to the back. I believe this is the second version of the Schleich female Asian elephant of three that I am aware of.
Now becoming increasingly rare, the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) has had a long history with humans, often being trained to do work; especially in India. They are also the closest living relative of the extinct woolly mammoth. Though we usually think today of the Asian elephant as a denizen of the Far East, such as in India, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, historically in classical and ancient times they also roamed stretches of modern-day Iran and even nearly as far west as the northern part of Palestine, near Syria.
Review and photographs by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972
The magnificent Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) is the second biggest of the three extant species of pachyderm, the second biggest land animal in the world, and the biggest land animal in all of Asia. It can be distinguished from its two African cousins largely by its domed cranium, smaller ears, and rounded back.
