Quote Originally Posted by Cheexsta
Sources? Because I seem to recall a recent conversation I had with an historian about this supposed Syrian elephant and its existence (or lack thereof)...
Quote Originally Posted by Fondor yards
Wasn't Hannibal's personal elephant *Syrus or whatever it's name was* an indian elephant?
Ancient sources are limited to what subspecies existed and were used, afaik. Here's an interesting link about it supporting the existence Syrian subspecies and with some evidences to support it:

http://nabataea.net/elephants.html

"However, in more recent years it has been shown that there was a species known as the North Africa elephant, which was common in North Africa in Polybius' day but is now extinct. This species measures about 2.35 meters at the shoulder, whereas the Indian measures just under 3 meters and the African bush type about 3.5 meters, and the Syrian may have reached 3.6 meters or more.
...
while one of Hannibal's elephants was known as "Sarus," which means 'the Syrian'. This elephant was very large and was the outstanding animal in the elephant battle squadron.
...
The Syrian Elephant
This species of elephant lived in Iran and Syria. Early drawings of the animal and fragmentary skeletal remains indicate that it was the largest subspecies of the Asian elephant. The war elephants employed by Pyrrhus in 255 BC and engraved upon Roman seals show animals of unusual size. "Sarus," which signified "the Syrian," was the outstanding animal in the elephant battle squadron of the Carthaginian general Hannibal.

Ancient Syrian craftsmen made ivory carvings out of the tusks of the elephants that lived on the Syrian steppe but by 100 BC this craft died out. Hippopotamus teeth were also a source of ivory for Syrian craftsmen. The hippopotamus was another animal that at one time lived on Syrian territory, along the Mediterranean coast, but it, too, had been hunted into extinction. Hippopotamus ivory was whiter than that obtained from elephants and was therefore more highly valued. In Syria, the production of ivory objects reached its apex at the beginning of the first millennium BC, when the Aramaeans made splendid ivory inlay for furniture; the disappearance of the elephant from Syrian territory was a consequence of the growth of this craft and the popularity of its luxury product."

so, considering Karthadast conditions to breed their own elephants *300 garages*, I believe they should be able to recruit in their homeland not only the smaller African Bush elephants but also possibly imported/captured either Indian elephants (just like Epirus and the Ptolomies at some point in history), the giant Syrian ones (Sarus, Hannibal's personal giant, being the living proof) or even African Plains elephants (the less supported with evidences but not that farfetched considering the Karthadastim for centuries made documented subsaharan trips).

Thx