It is not natural for adult female and male Asian elephants to live together. Asian elephants are matriarchal by nature; they live in herds of related females and only very young ( nursing ) males. Even more interesting is that the female herds are made up of related females; the grandmother, mothers, aunts, sisters, and nieces. They are truly a family, led by the oldest, wisest female.

Young males, still dependent on their mothers milk, remain in the matriarchal herd until they are completely weaned and exhibiting mock breeding behavior. Usually this is between 6-10 years of age, at which time the young male is forced to leave the herd. He quickly joins a group of other young males, but this arrangement is not permanent. Young males will change groups many times before they reached adulthood.

During this time young males are frequently observed shadowing adult males but seldom to never are actually seen interacting with the adult males. It appears that the adults serve as role models for the young males. By the time the male reaches 30 years of age he prefers to spend the majority of his time alone.