The Asian elephants' forest homes are being ravaged today due to commercial demand for forest derived products such as coffee, tea, rubber ,palm oil and hardwoods. Crop cultivation, mining for iron ore, and flooding by hydroelectric projects have also acted to diminish the large tracts of land required by elephants for adequate food supplies.
Half the world's elephants were killed by poachers in a single decade. Only about 35,000 - 40,000 Asian elephants survive today throughout a discontinuous range in south east Asia. These have been hemmed in by human populations and suffer harassment, death and injury in their conflicts with people.