Wild Elephant Attack in Bandipur National Park, India

I have been charged at by wild elephants in bandipur many times out of which many times it was a mock charge and in a few cases it was a determined charge. I am now going to relate on hair raising instance. All the images are full frame to give an idea about how close the wild elephant was.

Wild India | Elephant rubbing itself on a tree before charging in Bandipur

We were roaming around in Bandipur National Park, when we sighted a wild elephant and we stopped our vehicle. I was in the front seat besides the driver. The wild elephant was trying to rub itself on a tree. I picked up my 300mm f4 L IS USM lens to get a close up of the elephant.

Wild India | Elephant attack in Bandipur Tiger Reserve

Suddenly, without any warning sign the wild elephant charged at the vehicle and just stopped a few feet infront of us raising a cloud of dust. The angry scream made by the elephant sent shivers down the spine of a few tourists who were at the back of our vehicle. There was a foreigner and she told me that “if I were alone then I would have had a heart attack.”

Wild India | An angry wild elephant charges in Bandipur tiger reserve, India

When I clicked this shot, I was slightly out of the seat to get a clear view and was clicking calmly. The tourists had closed their eyes. Rightly so. If they would have seen such closeups, then I am sure one of them would have fainted.

Wild India | An angry Asiatic Elephant (Elephas maximus) charges

Wild Elephant Displacement activity:
This wild asiatic elephant after charging at us several times, moved back and resorted to throwing mud on itself. This behaviour also happens when they are stressed. After a mock charge, the wild elephant turns back and either breaks a branch, or throws leaves and mud on itself or feeds at a rapid pace.

Wild India | Elephant breaking a branch after a charge. A typical display of displacement behaviour

In this case exactly the same thing happened. The wild elephant turned back and broke a few branches and started throwing mud.

In a characteristic displacement activity, this wild elephant throws mud after a charge

In Bandipur, the wild elephants have generally become aggressive as they are often disturbed by people. The other day I saw the herd of wild elephants about to cross the bandipur-mudumalai road. However, they were prevented from crossing by honking trucks, busses, cars and jeeps. The elephants changed direction but were again blocked by people. The elephants then turned back and went away. These things keep on happening, so the wild elephants are becoming aggressive. I am also sure, outside the reserve, they would be scared away by people using firecrackers if not shotgun pellets.

Each wild elephant is different in its behaviour due to the experiences it has undergone and the learning’s it has imbibed from its mother and immediate family. It is very similar to the our concept of the child ego state in humans where by whatever a child has seen during his/her growing up stage gets imprinted in the child ego state and it acts on the basis of it. A small example of this is the way people clear their throat, other mannerism, they way the cook, make their bed etc. These are clearly imprinted in their child ego state and they take it for granted those actions as the valid and the only way of doing things. An example of this could clearly be seen in Africa where a group of adolescent elephants were seen to kill rhinos. It was later found out that adult elephants in their group were “culled” a so called scientific word for killing to maintain population at a particular level. Clearly those wild african elephants were devastated and took to showing unrestrained anger and killing rhinos.

Similarly an elephant which would have seen during its growing up stage or come to know that another elephant has got hit by a vehicle on the road, it associates all vehicles with danger and shows either fear or animosity towards vehicles. Elephants that have migrated from conflict areas in Wild India where tea planters or farmers shower them with pellets from illegal weapons, throw various crude country bombs etc show their animosity towards humans. I have seen the wild elephants in Satyamangalam to be very angry at humans and charge without provocation. In one instance in Satyamangalam, I was driving my Tata Safari 4×4 and members of our group were photographing elephants. One elephant from the group charged however, it couldn’t complete its charge as there was a man made ditch. We were just three feet away from its extended trunk. I had my 400mm f2.8 L IS USM lens attached to my camera and the minimum focusing distance of this lens is 10 feet. There was no way I could focus, even if I had wanted to take a click of probably its skin texture. 

A few things can be done to improve the state of affairs in Wild India.

In the first instance in BR Hills where the elephant coming down from the hills was forced to charge at the vehicle as it was close. Most of the times, in the ghat roads, to stop vehicles from falling over, walls about one feet height are created. This completely stops the wild elephants from climbing up or getting down. As such elephants carefully choose their path to ascent and descent steep slopes in wild india so as to balance their huge bulk and avoid toppling over. These side walls in the winding ghat roads makes their life difficult. So at times when the elephant is coming towards us, it is also trying to find a way out where it can get down from the road. If you come across elephants with calves while moving in wild india, then it is better to back off, as the calves find it very difficult to negotiate the height of the side walls. This will lead to the wild elephant making a charge.

Avoid regular thoroughfare roads plying through the forest. If alternate alignments can be created, then the wild elephants can cross the roads without getting hit by vehicles. Also the disturbance will be less in the elephant habitats in India. Apart from elephants, other wildlife will also benefit if alternate alignments of roads are created.

I was told by a jungle lodges driver that there are some popular photographers, who try to irritate wild elephants to elicit a mock charge so that they can get a good photo. Just to give an example of how powerful these elephants are, Ian Douglas Hamilton has written in his book that once a wild elephant in Manyara National Park in Africa attacked and plunged its tusks through his landrover. The sheet metal gave way like a big needle piercing a paper bag. Fortunately, he had a guard who fired in the air to somehow ward off the wild elephant. In India, our female elephants don’t have tusks like male elephants, however, their power is phenomenal. Let us not invite the wrath of Lord Ganesha! If you are not knowledgeable about elephant behaviour and have planned for a vacation in one of the many sanctuaries in wild india, then you ought to be careful and have a knowledgeable guide along with you all the time.

Source:http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/wild-india-elephant-attacks/