Tag: indian wild elephant

Posted in Books, Environment

Review: ‘The tusk that did the damage’ by Tania James.

Posted on by veeskitchen

I am re-blogging what I did in 2015 in yet another blog of mine. Poachers is the inspiration.

Book Review: ‘The Tusk That Did The Damage’ – by Tania James

August 29, 2015

ELEPHANT POACHING RESUMES IN KERALA/INDIA?

Felt a strange ‘deja vu’ reading this book. Read the excerpts in ‘The Hindu’ over an year back I guess. The synthetic achchan, Shakti mustard oil, sambar masala, the name Ravi Verma and then the mention of (some random) blogger and a few more could be the reason. Quickly checked out the first publication date: 2015 it says.

At the outset I believed the book was authored by an American American (!) I mean a caucasian so were surprised beyond limits that tusker names like Sooryamangalam Sreeganeshan must roll out so freely from the author’s imagination/research. This is possible only if you have an intimate knowledge and familiarity with the terrain and that kept playing at the back of my mind. The exact depiction of Kerala landscape, people, culture, toddy (!), elephants, wildlife parks everything was perfect. It was only when I was in the last 10 pages I cared to look up the author. Not a surprise that Tania James is an Indian American with roots in Kerala.

Aware of elephant torture in our temples, I still believed elephant poaching was rarest in India unlike it is in Africa where rampant hunting down of the species threatens the globe with their inevitable extinction in near future. Tampering/trespassing  with forest/wildlife reserve and/or any illegal encroachment is a serious criminal offence in the country.  I have observed from an NH project how even the highways are planned and mapped taking into due consideration the habitats of the native species and the flora & fauna of the land. The impression was, poaching stopped with the British barring one or two exceptional cases here  and there. Natives have captured stray elephants to train for battles, festivals in the past but rarely for tusks – or it was so believed.

A quick googling yielded the following links:

http://www.takepart.com/article/2012/10/09/indian-elephant-poaching

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/elephant-poaching-haunts-kerala/article1-1366255.aspx

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/india-untamed/2015/aug/05/poachers-stalk-elephants-kerala-after-gap-of-20-years

http://savetheelephants.org/elephant-news-service/elephant-poaching-forest-officials-subvert-probe-india/

So almost after a clean dry period of 20 years, poaching has shockingly resumed in south Indian forests with forest officers hand in glove with poachers in the inhumane, dastardly act.

Indian elephants register casualty in unnatural circumstances owing chiefly to electrocution (by electric fences installed by industrious farmers) and rail accidents but elephants being poached in India in recent times is bothersome and shocking news. Elephant death statistics have recorded a zero to bare minimum under poaching so as not to make a headline. Until I read the book, I had assumed elephants were safe from poaching in India, with only our tigers having to live under the scare.  Single-horned Rhinos of Assam for another.

So the book has arrived just at appropriate time as a caution. A thorough investigation is mandatory in the poaching issue and offenders must be brought to book. Repeat offenders must be dealt with severely and if there does exist a network as alleged/illustrated in the book upto Dubai for tusks, the angle must be explored by all means.

The story is a moving narration, first person accounts of an innocent and aspiring young man, a woman film maker and the rogue elephant itself. Reminded of the tamil film ‘Kumki’ and to a certain extent couldn’t help wondering if the picture could have been a major influence with the book. Good sense of humour the author has interspersed through out the book. That helped in lightening up tense situations as the story was otherwise like one very serious affair.

My empathy is with Indian Elephants always- such a sad species. When the ‘gravedigger’ is made an orphan, it broke my heart. Every elephant killing is like driving a spear through my heart. To fell such a magnificent but a benign beast, one has to be a monster. Evil personified. Its not a matter of will power or skill. Its a matter of one’s heart. For what I hold for the Elephant is reverence, awe, affection. An elephant as we know generally is otherwise a gracious, gentle giant. Unless provoked, it never disturbs anyone.

I have had my share of jumbo safaris, elephants bathes but now regret it very much. Never imagined, how even the ritual bathing could be torturous to the animals. Someone tweeted: ‘Imagine yourself naked in a room and being fondled by a crowd of onlookers. This is how pet animals/zoo animals must feel.’ Ever since I am thinking  about even the zoos. Zoos are not pleasant places but they are the last refuge when it comes to conservation of rare species going extinct which can be bred in safety, away from poaching threats. And zoos have to be financially viable so opening them up for tours is necessary. How the human wave pressing from all over could be disturbing not only to the pachyderms but to all zoo animals. Yes, why should we wanna go near the tuskers? We can maintain a distance with them and enjoy from afar. When I did my elephant safaris twice, I kept caressing the elephant head, for the love of it. Its long hair almost 10 cm tall in the head was so prickly and thick. It was then I understood why people wear ‘ananudi’ (elephant hair) rings. I have seen them in jewelry shops in Chennai. Even the mahout (pappan) asked me if I wanted an elephant hair as souvenir and I was utterly taken back. Plucking one from the elephant must definitely cause it a lot of pain. I touched the old lady (in Elephant Park, Munnar), gave her fruits and asked her if she would remember me. Telling her I loved her was important then. In Thekady to our bewilderment, 3 of us were put over a single male elephant. The keeper said, elephants can bear weight, can carry logs. True, the young male did not even heave a heavy breath on carrying us triplet. The burden was no issue I guess.  But it did give us a guilty feeling. In Karnataka, limited myself to giving the elephant its bath in Kaveri. Recently from some Elephant Facebook pages I have been learning how Elephant Art (paintings by elephants), Elephant Safari everything is disguised and presented to tourists as acceptable/not inhuman. Good marketing by tourism industry with a keen business mind. In truth, even these are not appreciable. Wherever and whenever possible, the calves must be returned to where they belong – the wild. Elephants are not for our amusement.

Another thing, its irritating and again bothersome that wildlife must be so much photographed or filmed for someone’s thesis (for personal gains) or selling in the media (the telecast rights). Just how much revenue does our forest dept mint out of permitting foreign crews from recording the wildlife in their natural settings with their sophisticated equipment. Wildlife photography must be totally banned in India and elsewhere. Recall this from Night Safari in Singapore where we were warned not to shoot pictures in darkness out of concern for scaring the animals. But rigorous check was not carried out to see if anyone carried a camera. Some violated the rules and its true the night creatures panicked and scurried here & other when even the shots were captured in Night-vision mode. The purpose of night safari was lost.

Photography of trained/domesticated animals is okay perhaps. In Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary in Tamil Nad, we boarded a govt jeep that screeched in maximum decibels that no wonder none of us spotted anything in the park. But in the reserve shoulder adjoining the park, we luckily spotted a herd of wild elephants browned with mud bath. It was disturbing to see that even these were used to traffic noise and human scent that the herd tore the trees and munched away the shoots and branches without sparing us a glance as if they did not care who spotted them or clicked them.

I don’t feel good watching wild tiger pictures. That jeeps drive so close to them and that humans are no strangers to the big cats is distressing. For personal victories and gloating over Twitter and Facebook and Instagram, every dude with a DSL cam heads to our national wildlife parks & sanctuaries for shooting prize winning pictures that he/she thinks are his/her trophies. Why do we want audience for everything. I find the idea unsettling.

Treetop cottages in Wayanad (Kerala) and Topslip (Tamil Nad) are always in our mind. This is a quiet and undisturbing way to observe and enjoy wildlife. I guess most sanctuaries in India including Ranthambore etc offer this facility.

Top slip reminds me of a friend’s experience. You have to return with your jeep/car by 6 pm to base cottage there, for elephants will be on prowl in the wild with sunset. The friend’s family could not. They were near the summit when they came face to face with a herd of wild elephants. The head of the family switched off the lights and the engine, downed the windows just a fraction to let in breathing air as the family huddled closer to each other in the car. They were surrounded by 10-15 big bulls and cows and calves who were feeling all sides of the car with their trunks. The family held their breath and sat immobile, going to sleep without a sound as hours clicked, hostage to surrounding inquisitive wild elephants. Wouldn’t have taken the tuskers a minute to upturn the car. Finally only around the dawn the elephants left quietly and the badly scared guys made their u-turn. Next day they were warned by the forest dept for overstaying.

The so-called wildlife photographers, in my opinion, do much more damage to nature that they say they revere. Their pictures with tigers & elephants shall encourage a lot more travelers into the parks which is not desirable. This is one ground where I would not want awareness in our people. Lesser the footfall in the forest reserves/sancturies, the better.

The tribals living at the edge of forests face not only conversion threat (by evangelists) (!) but also find themselves mired at the centre of human-animal conflict. It’s a catch22 situation no doubt. The delicate balance existing between them who have lived with nature for generations and the precious wildlife has to be maintained at any cost. One more survey to carry out: conversion rates of native tribals by foreign sponsored NGOs & missionaries. Curious why the author has not made a point on that.

The author’s fiction, even if imaginary, serves what purpose. One more filming with light flashes amid fast disappearing wildlife, one more DVD, one more research grant – filling whose pockets, boosting whose egos, to whose advantage. What did the wildlife or even the tribals benefit from the outcome. Wonder if a single rupee would have gone towards the Indian elephant that the filmmaker (or perhaps the author) professes to care for. Raising awareness is a point. There is enough awareness without having to make fresh pictures, without having to venture a further kilometer within Indian forests or hovering around frightened captured young cows & calves in nurseries.

I did like the part about reunion of separated calves with their mothers. This has to be given impetus and the ingenious way of not touching the calves with human hands during rescue is good. Even those captured/nurtured by human hands finally seem to make it to the wild which is heartening. The way it must be.

Do we have statistical data on captured elephants/strays in India. Data on temple/church/mosque elephants. Because in Kerala, even churches and mosques use elephants for processions/celebrations. What is the exact figure of temple elephants in Kerala/Tamil Nad/Karnataka or generally in India/South India. What about private ownership, licencees. Why has not the forest department come out with a table on domesticated elephant population. Why not make the figures public.

The book did make an engrossing read only next to ‘The Elephant Song’ by Wilbur Smith. The characters, the dialogues, the setting everything was natural. Tragic was the death of Mani-Mathai and also that of Manu but then by now I have had enough of fictions that I know the twist always lies in ‘punishing’ the ‘promising’ ones that shall leave the reader with a kind of longing… More tragic is the fate of the Indian elephant…

Posted in Environment, Pictures Desi

Tele series: Poachers (Prime)

Posted on by veeskitchen

As a wildlife enthusiast and lover of the Indian elephant, I cannot thank enough the producers of Poachers (Amazon Prime), the mini series that highlights the poaching menace in Indian forest reserves. Slick and sharp, the episodes are to the point and cannot come crisper. Not a single minute of sag. Real life story. Before I proceed, all round applause to Nimisha Sajayan, who plays the Forest department cop attached to Kerala state. She is backed by a very well cast crew including the ones who play the roles of Neel Banerjee Kerala state wildlife director, and Alan, a part-time wildlife dept staff and IT person. Its heartwrenching watching this series, but is a must for wildlife lovers around the world. Following some elephant pages in social media, it was heartbreaking for me even recently to note the tragic poaching of three wild tuskers who towered to the skies, within the Amboseli national park range in Kenya, Africa. India is a natural elephant country so we know what it takes to have the wild elephants roam about our forest corridors. India without her elephants is unimaginable. I have covered quite a few reviews in my blog on wild life and especially on elephants/Indian elephants. Its no open secret that the ivory contraband smuggling goes hand in hand with underground mafia dealing in dope and/or arms. Its in national interest to see to that the nexus is thwarted. Funding terror can only be the next step away.

About Poachers, I have done this copy & paste job from Google:

The series is based on the real-life events of “Operation Shikar” that unfolded between 2015 and 2017, spearheaded by the Kerala Forest Department. Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) assisted in the investigations along with the police and others who risked their lives to unearth India’s largest poaching syndicate.


This article also may be of interest in this regard:

https://www.theweek.in/theweek/leisure/2024/03/02/the-real-story-behind-the-amazon-prime-series-poacher.html

My takeaway from the series is the knowledge that ivory is also used to make small trinkets to instill interest in (new) (fresh) buyers hoodwinking law enforcement in broad daylight. This may be done by honing/sharpening the tusks of the temple elephants or elephants in captivity. Such a pruning of the domesticated elephant tusks may yield just enough shavings to cater to small buyers. There must be artisans devoted to the crafting art with the promise of a small/discreet market. Ultimately this may lead to sustained interest and big buyers who may be collectors of the exotic. So the only way to stop the tusk pruning of the tamed elephants is that, they may have to be let loose in the wild. NO MORE TEMPLE ELEPHANTS, NO MORE ELEPHANTS IN CAPCIVITY, NO MORE ELEPHANTS FOR ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY. Destroy the ivory as and when found. China, needless to say, is the first and worst international ivory market. When buyers create a demand, a supply chain can possibly be established especially in weaker territories. Its one tough job out there for our forest department officials.

Review: The Elephant Whisperer – Lawrence Anthony.

It was shocking to note that the big Ambani pre-wedding party had a prop of an elephant – drumbeating about the virtues of Vantara at the same time. How hypocritic. Vantara will be zilch investment luxury forest safari lodge for the who-is-who of India, no more. Very clever Ambani marketing. Looks like they took over 200 ailing elephants for the project from all across India. Anyone who loves wildlife, will never do this:

Posted in Pictures Desi

Review: The Elephant Whisperers

Posted on by veeskitchen

Edited: March 13, 2023. Extremely pleased to note that the documentary has won an Oscar today. The two women creators of the film Karthiki Gonsalves and Guneeth Monga have made India proud.

*** *** *** *** ***

Watched this heartwarming documentary in OTT platform this evening. Surprised to see that its based in Mudumalai Tiger Sanctuary, right in Tamil Nadu, India. Mudumalai has an impressive population of Indian wildlife ranging from tigers and elephants to exotic birds in rich bio diversity. Been here but spotted the pachyderms in the shoulder areas adjoining the reserve forests over the protected sanctuary. Mudumalai meets Periyar Tiger reserve and Parambikulam tiger reserve of Kerala over the western ghats and driving to either side from one of the two could prove lucky for wildlife spotting – that I have fortunately done but unfortunately missed any worthwhile wildlife spotting. In fact, even the Bannerghatta reserve in Karnataka adjoins the three wildlife sanctuaries from south over the ghats. Makes for an interesting geographical territory.

Even if captive elephants bother me, I am not blind to the role of the mahouts in our society, especially Hindu, where the elephants are culturally cared for, accorded the divine status. We are raised to revere elephant like god. Most ancient and well funded Hindu temples in the south own elephants. Kerala temples typically own dozens each. Mahouts therefore become indispensable with their rare elephant rearing acumen garnered over generations. Pictures have been made earlier on the bonhomie that the mahouts share with their pet elephants. Elephants exhibit humanlike emotions as they are generally social creatures that live in complex societies comprising interesting family trees. Elephants also akin to the blue whales that roam the oceans, transmit low frequency vibrations and their broadcast can be heard over a distance of hundreds of miles – that makes the two species most intelligent almost at par with the homosapiens on earth. So that’s why, an orphan elephant calf can be a heart wrenching sight to some of us. Even if man=elephant conflicts are on rise in India, our tribals still enjoy holistic relationships with wildlife especially the elephants. Their communication channels are unique and they build bonds that are familylike.

Forest department is now doing a good job rehabilitating lost or orphaned elephant calves after rescuing them when they may be accidentally left behind or willfully abandoned by their herds. Its not easy to return the calves used to human presence to where and who with they belong. This is a tremendous feat and I am heartened to see Bomman and Belle doing just that with Belle becoming first woman in Tamil Nadu history to successfully rear two infant elephant calves and returning them to the wild. Tribals in India live in close contact with our wild life. They share a delicate balance in nature that has to be maintained at any cost so that both the parties stand to lose nothing. Increased encroachments are a threat to wildlife and forest reserves whereas wild animals foraging for food in the villages poses grave dangers to human settlements along elephant corridors. Its a big challenge that has to be acknowledged and tackled with careful study.

Hopefully documentaries such as these win global awards raising awareness. When I watch young female elephants in our temples such as Thirukadaiyur, Thirunallar, Kumbakonam etc., an indescribable ache clutches my heart and I end up question myself, if this is the point of elephant rescue missions. The degree of domestication of wild elephants has never been this acute as more and more of the gentle giants are captured and tamed for religious purposes in India. Mercifully, the circuses employing wild life ended long back in India.

The documentary is a feast to eyes bringing to our view some parts of the Mudumalai reserve that may not be accessible to public. The glimpse into tribal life is also appreciated. Serene and peaceful life in the woods, in the lap of nature, in the company of wild life. What more can one ask for. What a gifted life and what a rich lifestyle. The infant elephant calves Raghu and Ammu’s home among the Nilgiris that they shared with the tribal couple is a far cry from today’s mad and crazy materialistic world. May their tribe increase and may India forever be blessed with rich flora and fauna that are the most precious gifts from Mother Earth.

Mahouts in India are increasingly viewed as cruel men. A handful of them could be so. Most however look upon the elephants under their care like their own children. India is again a rare country where one’s occupation being an elephant mahout is considered normal and regular!

Fortunate to have visited a couple of forest reserves in the south. Blessed to have spotted wild elephants although never within wildlife sanctuaries but always along the shoulder belt. It shows, what we define as elephant corridors are man made. Elephants do not oblige the geographic lines drawn by man and forest department. As the forest cover shrinks in India, the wild elephants are more and more spotted along human settlements.

Thoughtful picture that did not go around a temple mahout. For a change, the plot of the story was on a mahout working with forest department stationed within the range of forest reserves. To make a film like this and to focus on wild elephants of India, you have to have a different heart. I see you, director!

Posted in Environment

Review: Tipu, Sultan of the Siwaliks – Amritaraj Christy Williams

Posted on by veeskitchen

As someone passionate about wildlife and especially about the (indian wild) elephants, I searched for such a book to read in Amazon and was happy to discover that it is a very recent publication. Delighted to note that the author is from Kerala although not surprised. I do share his affinity for the elephants so I can deeply feel his emotions for the gentle giants. However, the wild elephants of India, i have had opportunities to watch from a distance only. I have spotted wild elephants in the shoulder areas adjoining the Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary in Tamil Nadu. Second time was in Munnar. Lastly two years back spotted a group grazing the Vazhachchal forests high in the blue mountains (western ghats) in the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. We were on our way to Valparai where we doublebacked to head to Thrissur wherefrom we had started the road trip. It was one super elephant corridor I must say, popular for elephant spotting. I did feel guilty for having stopped to take a good look at them an hour from Athirappalli, although the jumbos looked nonchalant and hardly took an interest in the human presence. A lot of passing sedans had parked roadside to take a peek into the tropical forests that flanked the highways, where the pachyderm families were partly hidden by overgrown grass and dense foliage. Plenty of fresh green fodder here for the elephants to feast on. My most cherished memories.

So the lucky job of being a wildlife biologist at Rajaji national park – how much ever offbeat that could have been and even if the research wouldn’t have paid well – still is an enviable position to me. I wish I was there.

Review: The Elephant Whisperer – Lawrence Anthony.

This book comes close on heel to (reading) ‘the Elephant whisperer’ authored by Lawrence Anthony, the South African game reserve runner who is no more. He developed that unique bond to communicate with the tuskers that were under his custody and care within the park limits. But I feel more connected to Tipu’s real life story because it is based in India. The empirical evidence recorded by the wildlife biologist firsthand lends credibility, authenticity and scientific validation to any research or observation on elephant lifecycles and habitats (wrt the said period) in my opinion, in fast changing climes and environs.

Stop Cruelty To Elephants In The Name Of Religion NOW !!!

I will have to agree with Christy that the Asian elephant population is massively hit and dwindling at an alarming rate. Their African cousins at least bask in global attention and could be doing better in spite of relentless poaching threats to wildlife in the Dark continent. The Asian elephants’ case is complicated by the dimension of domestication. In Thailand for instance, a vast majority of the jumbos could be domesticated with a very slim percentage of the elephants left to roam in the wild. The tragic saga of Indian temple elephants has not elicited the kind of attention or response that it merited.

The author is stationed in Dholkhand forest office station and carries on research on the Indian wild elephants in the foot of the Siwaliks in the late 1990s. Here he takes to personally radio collaring the elephants for the first time in Indian history for research purposes. Now that’s a stupendous job, hitherto unheard of, generating valuable data for processing and records that could go a long way in preserving the elephant territories and ancient corridors that are routinely taken over for urbanization by our government. The statistics probably later paved the way for resettling the Gujjar tribe from within the limits of the sanctuary to remote areas leaving the forests clear and free for the elephant population. The gujjars with their animal husbandry were competing with the pachyderms for the forest resources that were getting scarcer by the day.

Say A Big ‘NO’ To Birth Control For Indian Elephants

The author’s familiarity with the elephants he collared with his team including Tipu, Shahrukh, Diana, Kiruba, Aishwarya, Topcut, Madhuri, Mallika, Malavika, Div T etc., is heartwarming. The wildlife expert records at least 23 elephants of one to two families in the Gangetic plains up to the foothills of the Siwalik, home range to certain lineages of India’s wild elephants. The immobilization of the mammoth elephants darting them with tranquilizers is one nerve wracking drama. Reviving the jumbos seems to be even more challenging and critical where and when things can seriously go wrong and defeat the purpose. This is so when an elephant goes down on its chest or stomach. The saving of the wild elephant’s life is an enormous responsibility and the researcher with the veterinarian team and assistants and forest officials seems to have executed his part to satisfaction. It is unnerving to learn that sometimes darting is done by teams on foot with the vet leading from forefront. Kudos to forest officers and wildlife biologists who are into this, foregoing material aspirations. Elephant Maximus is a matchless species and India, as per the author, is home to at least 50% of wild Asian elephant population.

Good one on Makhna, the male tuskless elephants although this piece of info is not news to me.

Kudos to wildlife biologist and senior to Christy, (Dr?) AJT Johnsingh who felt the need to move human-tribal settlements away from elephant corridors. This was apparently later implemented to good degree of success. AJT, the author avers, is India’s first mammal biologist. What a brilliant brainchild of AJT is this delinking of humanity from the wild elephant society! The man-elephant conflict can be resolved in a day if this works to perfection.

I virtually camped in Rajaji for a week turning page after page of the book where I was enchanted by a variety of flora and fauna, native to this particular park. Special mention: Sal tree. Others include Rohini trees, Khair (favourite of the elephants), Acacia, Ehretia, Mallotus, sharing space with the pied hornbill, chital deer, langurs, barking deer, rhesus macaques, gorals, leopard, tigers. The shrubs and bushes are the rau, the lantana and the colebrookia (biological term). How rich is my India!

One interesting fact about the Asian elephants viz-a-viz other domesticated species such as the canines (from wolves) is that, despite captivity of a record 4000 years (longest in human memory), (and unlike the African elephants that have miraculously escaped this cruel fate), the Asian elephants have not mutated into any sub species which is remarkable. The domesticated Asian elephants retain the exact DNA of their wild brethren.

Some cheer learning that in the elephant world, the males follow the lead of the females. Not news to me again, having grown up on a staple of Wilbur Smith. The elephant matriarchs always sounded to me like my own patti (grandma) hahaha. The author at the outset avers how it is entirely wrong lumping all elephants into one grey. Every single elephant is a different character, with a distinct personality. Christy seems to have a special something for Tipu, the sultan of the Siwaliks who is very mature and intelligent.

Do temple elephants connect.

The musth season of the wild elephants is well detailed and covered in phases. Learning that the tuskers came to musth every year from one to two months or even five to six months in the case of mature bulls, I couldn’t help thinking about our temple elephants chained and tortured for life. No wonder they go on rampage through our towns and villages, confined to squatting space in musth season without company.

The man-elephant conflict is also dealt with neatly on first hand experience. Yet the author does not lose sight of the fact that IT IS THE ELEPHANTS THAT ARE FIGHTING THE LOSING BATTLE. The railway accidents and power lines are taking a heavy toll on the wild Indian population. Christy hopes the situation is improving with afforestation afoot, but I don’t share his optimism at all.

Elephant At Crossroads

The author does a remarkable job of not merely doing math of the headcount of the wild Indian elephants in Rajaji in late ’90s, but also tracks and tags and studies the elephant families acquiring valuable research material and info. Particularly impressive is learning of the way the mother elephants guard the newborns, how the elephants trumpet, rumble, mock-charge for various emotions or communications and how even the erring among them get chastised by the senior matrons. The bull elephants almost always are on their own, parting from the group when they reach puberty from which time they are in the company of wise old bulls who show them the ways of the elephantine life.

I particularly loved reading about how the group of wild elephants fell asleep on their backs on top of the gorge and then woke up on clockwork precision only to turn on their sides and go back to sleep! So cute and so far unobserved fact I guess that even Lawrence Anthony did not get to discover about African elephants! Oh what a sight that must have been! I do guess this Tipu book is full of vital info specific to the wild Indian elephant. I like the geography with native trees and other wild species that find a mention. It is interesting to note how the ecology is maintained with the arrival of monsoons.

Christy who joins the newly established Wildlife Institute of India as a greenhorn biologist is also working on ‘Project elephant’ mooted by govt of India. He goes on to submit his research paper at Arizona state univ., in the US after which he joins WWF that takes him to Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia etc., to study the wild Asian elephants.

Shattered reading about the train accident that killed three female wild elephants. Moved to tears learning how the elephant mother sacrificed her own life throwing herself at the speeding engine to save her baby – so much humanlike.

Christy meets his future wife Kashmira in Rajaji National Park and shows ‘Tipu’ to her when she says she would like to marry Tipu! Well, Christy I would have loved to, as well! The author getting connected to ‘Tipu’ is too very understandable. As I said, I share his emotion.

The book ended with a first person (imagined) account of Tipu who seems to have lost hope for his progenies on Planet Earth. The future seems bleak from his point of view and I feel a sadness realizing the truth in his fears and doubts. I hope the book is read by leading industrialists and especially the self-certified gurus of India as well as our government and bureaucracy and planners and decision makers. Is India only for human Indian citizens? What about our wildlife. Can you imagine India without the elephant. Next time, do when you screech ‘Ganpati bappa moriya.’ The chants sound shrill to my ears when you dislodge the Elephant maxima from their natural environs, take over the elephant corridors for ashrams and factories, destroy forests and build in their places ugly cities. May be what is stated in the ‘Sapiens’ (Yuval Noah Harari) is perfect. The species that go extinct are the most fortunate as they do not profusely regenerate and populate to live a miserable life. Whoever went before us the homesapiens, went with grace having lived life well when it lasted.