Wild India: Elephant Attack – How to know an elephant is going to charge
How to tell if an elephant is about to charge is the second part of the article in the Wild India: Elephant Attack series.
Human-elephant conflict is increasing due to ever increasing human-habitations encroaching on the forest lands, forest fires destroying habitats, invasives reducing the amount of food available for elephants, increased exploitation of forest produce (NTFP), cultivation of species preferred by elephants like paddy, banana close to the forests and elephant corridors etc.
A major part of the elephant habitat is outside our protected areas. The Government has not agreed to the recommendation of the Elephant Task Force to create a separate authority for elephants. In that Elephant Task Force report, there was a suggestion to buy back land and recreate the elephant corridors. Even that is not happening. So the conflict is going to continue. In this article I am going to show how to tell an elephant is going to charge and whether it is a mock charge or serious charge.
Speed of a Wild Elephant:
Usain Bolt ran the London 2012 100m Olympics final at 9.63 seconds, so his speed was 37.383kmph. An elephant can run at an estimated speed of between 35-40kmph speeds, crushing all the bushes on the way. So the only way one can evade an elephant attack in Wild India is if the person can read the intent of the elephant and starts running and creating a big enough distance between himself and the elephant before the elephant starts the charge.
How to tell an elephant will charge:
Iain Douglas-Hamilton as a 22 year old youngster had gone to Africa to do a study on Lions. When he saw that Dr. George Schallar was already doing study on Lions he did a study on Elephants. It was indeed a boon for all the elephant lovers, as his work in Manyara National Park, was the first to do systematic research on elephants in Africa. His pioneering effort resulted in the book Among the Elephants.
Wild Asiatic elephant ready to charge. It is still, only the raised foreleg indicating that it will charge
In the Page 68, 4thparagraph of the book Among the Elephants By Iain & Oria Douglas-Hamilton, he has given the signs to know if an elephant is going to charge:
“Another distinct pattern of behaviour with practical as well as theoretical interest was the twiddling of the trunk, the swinging of one of the front legs to and fro, and rocking from side to side which I saw when an elephant appeared to be deciding between attack an retreat. These were typical displacement activities. In elephants they were a great help to me in predicting their behaviour. The more marked these activities the less likely the elephant was to charge. Very often the most impressive threat displays emanated from the most frightened elephants which were unlikely to make a serious attack.
Niko was particularly interested in the differences in character between individual elephants where this led to their behaviour becoming predictable. As we passed one matriarch named Inkosikaas, with an upswept tusk like a sabre, she shook her head in mild annoyance. I stopped the car and told him to watch these elephants, because within about five minutes they would charge. Inkosiakaas fiddled with her trunk, then turned to the other cows on either side of her and clashed tusks with them in turn, putting her trunk in their mouths one after the other. This seemed to reassure her and almost exactly five minutes later she delivered a beautifully impressive threat charge. This was her own predictable quirk, unique among the elephants of Manyara: the tendency for delayed action aggressive displays.”
Unfortunately, this knowledge is not disseminated among people. I first read this from a book written by a hunter (Danta Hatira Pratihinsha by Gadadhar Ray). I read it in the late 70’s and saw the behaviour in 90’s. This hunter had experienced this behaviour in the 1930’s and 1940s. Unfortunately, not many people have read it since this book was written in a local language (Oriya). Douglas-Hamilton recorded this behaviour in African elephants in the late 1960’s and early 1970s. I hope to educate all the people in the human-elephant conflict areas, so that lives can be saved. You will also find this behavior in the short film A God in Distress.
Elephants can stand remarkably still and people often dont realize what is going to unfold. So they move closer with small zoom lenses hoping to get a closeup of a Wild elephant. And then the charge is unleashed. Because the realization dawns late, people lose precious seconds, which can be the difference between life and death.
There have been cases of journalists losing their life in South India while trying to photograph wild elephants in Indian jungles. A wildlife enthusiast working in IBM in Bangalore was reported to have died due to heart-attack when a wild elephant charged.
How to know it is a serious charge:
Wild elephants often mock charge. A lot of people mistake a serious charge of a wild elephant to be mock charge and either hold their ground or start running late. When the elephant has got serious intent, you can see that its trunk is coiled inwards and its ears are close to the head.If you are roaming around in Wild India in the elephant habitat, then you have to look for these signs.
Wild Indian elephant makes a determined charge
In 1963, A Border Roads Construction department truck was kicked down a cliff by an elephant and nine people had died. In South India, there have been many cases of elephants attacking vehicles. So when you know that it is a determined charge by a wild elephant, it is better to back off.
Wild India: Narrow escapes from Elephants:
If one is on foot in Wild India, there are theories that if you hide behind a bush, the elephant may not see you. In his book Elephant Gold by P. D. Stracey, he has mentioned a few such narrow escapes from a charging elephant. In Page 198, he writes Walsh, another tea-planter, described to me how he was following an elephant in thick bush when it suddenly whipped round and charged him; he tripped as he took a step backwards in the act of raising a rifle and sat down at the base of a tree and perhaps this may have made the elephant lose sight of him and charge on and past him.
- Elephants have very keen sense of smell and acute hearing. So if one can hide without making any sound and if the wind is blowing from the side of the elephant towards you, then perhaps you can survive.
- Throwing away any cap or part of clothing can also help in distracting the elephant before you make good your escape. In one case a person threw his white lungi and when the wild elephant got busy in shredding it into pieces, the person ran away to safety.
- One can also escape the wrath of an attacking elephant, by climbing a large tree and sitting on a branch beyond the reach of the elephants trunk. Not many city bred wildlife enthusiasts know how to climb a tree. So this is another reason to be cautious when you are on foot in Wild India.
- If there is a big enough ditch, then try to remember your school days when you were involved in long jump competitions and jump over. The elephant is most likely to stop. However, if the ditch is small enough, then the elephant is more likely to take a detour and try to reach you with its trunk.
Since prevention is better than cure, if you are trekking on foot, better to get a local trekker. Their senses would be much better than us. In one case my trekker could smell elephant, and I could smell it only after a further 15 feet or so. That could be the difference between life and death. Similarly, watching TV and exposed to loud sounds has got its impact on our hearing abilities. So a local tribal is likely to be of a lot of help and invaluable in saving you from elephant attacks in wild India.
If you have any questions about Wild India: Elephant Attacks or more specifically on How to know if an elephant is going to charge then you can ask in the comments section below.
Sabyasachi is available for Hire as a DP for shoots any where in India.
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Extremely valuable tips and definitely an eye opener as I used to think that I can easily over run it 😀 …
Hi Dheeraj,
The elephants can run really fast. The elephant image that I have posted was clicked from a moving vehicle. Our vehicle could pull away only after the speed increased beyond 40kmph. They have long strides.
Thank you Dheeraj. Hope I never need these
oh well this was very informative,considering i have had an elephant charge towards our jeep…
Very informative! Love your style and choice of topics
Navin,
I am happy to know that someone likes my style of writing. I just write what I know. I hope I can raise sufficient awareness.
Sabyasachi
Wow..this is really informative..thanks a ton.
It is very valuable indeed, considering the trip we are planning
I will remember all those tips. On a trip to the Dalma range I have seen elephants charge. We were inside the elephant bunker and yet it would not give up. It still tried to get its trunk in. It was a terrifying moment. Nice post
Good to know that you were in Dalma. I was there in Jamshedpur from 1992-1995. I had many treks to Dalma. There is lot of human-elephant conflict in and around Dalma range.
very informative post! there have been few unfortunate incidents, like the one in mysore. it can be really helpful if people know how to escape in these situations.
I’m definitely giving you a call before I visit any wildlife sanctuaries!
Very interesting and informative post. You are indeed very knowledgeable about wildlife.
Thanks. I am happy you liked it. Nature is so vast, if I can know the proverbial tip of the iceberg, then I will feel that I have learnt a lot. You may please check my article titled “Tigers in the Dark” http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/tigers-in-the-dark/ My ego of knowing a good amount of tiger behaviour got crushed. Since then I am afraid of calling myself knowledgeable.
That was a very informative and interesting post. Didn’t know elephants run that fast. I haven’t been close to elephants often, especially in the jungle area but if I ever do (now that I know the characteristics to look out for to identify when they are seriously charging and when they are not) I will certainly feel more secure. Many thanks for sharing.
Arti,
We generally assume that elephants can’t run fast since we assume elephants are like obese people who can’t run fast. As a kid I used to look at the big tummy of Lord Ganesha and because of his elephant head, we used to tease all our fat friends as elephant.
They are highly developed creatures. Did you know that elephants have a pregnancy of 22 months? It is that long so that its entire body, unique features like trunk etc can get develop well. Watch them interact with their calves. One gets immense pleasure.
Sabyasachi
Hi
A very informative article . Thanks
Hi there,
Have been here for the first time and simply loved your blog… I am actually seriously considering an adventure trip all by myself after reading your posts..
The amount of peace that you will find in a jungle is phenomenal. One should consider travelling to a jungle for peace and solitude.
These were interesting tips. Thank you. I’ve grown up in the forest with elephants on our farm quite regualrly for the bamboo we’ve grown for them. I know while the local villagers beat drums and empty cannisters to chase raiding elephants away or when in the forests collecting firewood, it’s much better to follow your advice and avoid them altogether – they need and deserve their space – it was after all their home before we invaded it! On a side note, also found steam rising from their dung in winters a good indication that they are close. 🙂
Hi Pratap,
Thanks for your dung tip. While exploring on foot in wild india, one certainly needs to look at the dung of all the animals to decipher the story. Elephant dung being relatively large can’t be missed and certainly the freshness of it can indicate how close they are.
Sabyasachi
Thank you for the excellent post. I have trekked in some of the forests of Kerala. I always had local guides with me during these treks. I have noticed that all my guides, without exception, are terrified of elephants. Tigers, panthers, bison, bear etc. are treated with respect, but they are not really afraid of them. One of my guide would stop every 50 m or so and listen for sounds of elephants breaking branches and would proceed only if he was convinced that there is no sign of elephants.
What an informative article. Another excellent article from your staple.
Hi Sabyasachi,
Indeed these are very very useful tips unfortunately I was too late to read them. Yes we were attacked by the wild pachyderm @ Bandipur. But yeah this was not our mistake, we were at the wrong place at the wrong time. the incident was as follows. We were on our way to ooty through Bandipur via Thepekadu.
It was around 5 pm we had just finished the jungle safari by the forest dept . we started our car crossed the Bandipur core gate and heading towards Thepekadu . Right after a blind turn there was a car already parked and few cars ahead of him . there was huge Q of oncoming vehicles on the other side doing the same – parked. As I approached to my shock there was a calf and two elephants right beside the car in-front of me I would have reversed from that spot if i could foresee what was about to happen. The people in the car started to make sounds and do some flash photography. the Mommy got agitated and charged the car in front of me. They were some 10-15 feet ahead of me . They could escape in nick of time . Now i was stuck right in-front of her. Reverse not possible as other cars stopped behind me. So she started charging at me . I gunned towards right of the road. Luckily she got the left side of the car. Entire left side got smashed like a pulp. We escaped with no injuries Thank god for that.. Car got heavily damaged with 70K in repairs. We paid the price for someone else s mistake. I have decided now not to follow any car inside a forest . If i spot a stationary car i will approach very cautiously looking at a chance to dash ahead of him regardless what or else stay a cool 50 60 meters away from him. till i come to a conclusion. and yes mainly memorize your tips in-case to judge the situation if i see one pachyderm.
Hi,
Sorry to hear that your vehicle was damaged. Though you spent 70000 rupees repairing it, you should thank your stars that it was only that much. It could have been much more if the elephant decides to spend a couple of seconds more bashing your car. That would have truly reduced the vehicle. And you should really thank God that all of you were unhurt.
If someone hits our kid, then the parents or relatives will not hesitate in throwing stones at the vehicle. Elephants with so much more power than us, can inflict relatively much more damage when they are annoyed by some stupid tourists.
The challenge is how to educate people and inform them that they should not crowd behind a vehicle and try to overtake it when there is an elephant nearby. That leaves no escape route. And using a flash on an elephant is a Very Bad Idea.
Dear sir,
Valuable and life saving tips.2014 I returned from bandipur alone in bike.At mudumala road side I saw a single elephant not a tucker with in 20 feet distance.I shot 35 photographs around 10 minutes, it didn’t mind.Then the next bend near to the booking office at mudumala I saw elephants, stop the bike try to take some shots.Just because of lowlight in the evening 5 P.m.I just see through the viewfinder, not even press the camerabutton just within the time of eye blink it came in the middle of the way.I Don’t even start the bike, throw it and ran away. It charged for a smaller distance. By god, s grace , gurus grace I escaped. So, the articles like u r, s will help a lots of people.Thank u and keep it up.
Hi sabyasachi,
I had been to forest yesterday and need to know if it is better to use bright headlight or dim headlights while traveling through forest. I heared that not to flash light when we see elephant
You are right. Please don’t flash light when you see an elephant. While driving in a jungle road it is better to use the low beam and drive slow. If you are driving fast, you may flush out a heavy animal from the side of the road and bring the poor fellow onto your path. Many accidents happen that way. And don’t feel that you are secure because you are in a bigger vehicle. If you hit a heavy herbivore, your vehicle can be badly damaged as well. The elephants are very intelligent creatures. If your headlight is on high beam and is falling on their eyes, then if you just dim it, then they will understand. But don’t try to dim and high it continuously they we do while asking another vehicle to give us space to overtake. That can be dangerous.
If the elephant is on the road, then just wait silently, without honking and talking. Most of the times the elephant will slowly move away.
Once while driving in a ghat road, I was on a high beam and when I turned, the beam fell on the eyes of an elephant which was descending the hills. It got nervous and charged. I had a tough time reversing in the narrow zig-zag bends of the ghat. Slight mistake would have resulted in me plunging into the gorge below.
Hi Sabyasachi,
Thanks for such an informative article. I have visited once Ranthambore National Park. There was no sighting to tiger that time. And I remember the people/tourists behavior after reading Anurag’s incident in Bandipur. I don’t know but when these so called educated people who visit such places will start learning how to behave. They think they are visiting any Zoo and all helpless animals are behind bars and they have all rights to spoil the environment with noise and throwing garbage etc. The guide at Ranthombore specially instructed everyone on board to not to make noise and shout when you spot any animal or tiger but people just can’t listen. For them its just a joy ride but they can’t understand that they are risking everyone’s life. I remember in 2005, I with my office colleagues went to Ooty from Bangalore passing through Bandipur forest and 1 bus coming from the opposite direction was stopped by the forest guards because they were drinking, dancing and singing and running loud music in their bus and they started fighting with guards when they stopped the bus…They all belonged to once reputed IT co. from Bangalore…..
Really informative. Thanks a lot.
Also I would like to know how do you protect your camera & lenses when you do Jungle Safari..?
Is there any Standard Operating Procedure 😉 before you take a photo or do anything in & around the forest
Prasanth,
A major problem in India is the dust. So when not shooting either keep in camera bag, lens case, wrap it in towel or storm jackets etc. I use many methods. For some details check this article: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/how-to-protect-your-camera-equipment/
Since you have asked, I can write down a SOP (Standard Operating Procedure), as I have seen many things can go wrong or people forgetting many things. Will do that later.
Cheers,
Sabyasachi
after reading ur thoughtful article would like to add one more thing to avoid conflict especially in the highlands…as much of central indian highlands like those in orissa,jharkhand and bengal is home to these gentle giants,as well as kerala and tamilnadu…in a slopy terrain if an elephant is on charge it is always advised to run downslope…contrayr to the popular belief of running uphill so that the effect of gravity on the massive elpehant slows it down..cause considering the might of the jumbo it is nothing….instead it struggles to maintain balance while chasing downhill!
i lived just 1km far away from rajaji national park in uttrakhand….
elephant came here around 7-8 pm in evening and coming by the road between our houses… 2 tyms its just 40 feet far away from me…..
its just scaring….
Patra,
Fantastic Article. Its a Must Read for all Wild Life Enthusiasts.I have been visiting Masinakudi/Bandipur every year for the past 15 years.
Only once were we chased by an Elephant .She was with her Calf and the Calf strayed too close to our Jeep. Needless to say,we didn’t know the differnence between a Mock Charge and a Real Charge.We were saved because of the presence of mind of our Driver.
You should read “The Elephant Whisperer” it give an insight into Elephant behaviour at Length.
Cheers and keep up the Good Work
Kumar,
Good to know that there was no harm when you met an elephant and its calf. When an elephant is with its calf, we need to be careful. Infact, that is true for any animal with its offspring.
I have read “The Elephant Whisperer”. He certainly managed to strike a relation with the elephants. I am not sure if they understand english or hindi etc however animals do understand our intent and body language. They can understand if we have malevolent intent.
Cheers,
Sabyasachi
Hi,
This is a very informative article!
I am starting on a bicycle ride from Trivandrum to Bangalore next week and will be passing through Gudalur, Bandipur and Mudumalai. I’m a little concerned about encountering elephants on the way. Is there any period of the day that is relatively safer? Any tips to be able to spot elephants early?
Neeraj,
If I were you, I would be more worried about rash driving by motorists than elephants. Having said that, when you are passing that stretch from bandipur and mudumalai just take it easy. Pedal slowly and keep a watch of any signs for elephants. If you see elephants then stop at a safe distance rather than trying to dodge them and speed fast. That would make them tense as well. Remember that elephants can run very fast. So stop at a safe distance and try to see if there are any elephants nearby. Except for lone tuskers, if you sight one elephant, there are chances that other members of the herd would be close by. If needed back off and wait. Most of the times the elephants take note and move to the side to give way.
At any cost Don’t yell.
If the elephant reaches just in front of your vehicle and about to charge should we switch on head lamp and blow horn?
what is the method we need to follow on forest road?
Even if elephant is close by, just sit tight. Don’t blow horn as you are going to alarm it by the sudden sound. Most of the times they will slowly pass by. The elephant will use it trunk to sniff. However, people normally get scared thinking that the elephant will catch hold of someone with the trunk. Don’t make any sudden movement, don’t flash any light at them and just sit quietly. Once an elephant was spooked by a person’s camera flash when he tried to photograph with a compact camera. So beware and tell people not to use their phones or camera to snap a photo as the built-in flash may irritate the elephant.
The elephant will move away if you just hold your ground without any sound and movement.
can you tell which Odia book told you about elephants written by a hunter. i am super excited about it.
people generally believe that with the rising number of human deaths in Odisha due to elephants, elephants have taken a liking to killing humans especially as the humans are killed in forest villages. but the actual fact is that there are no corridors for safe movement of the elephants. so the elephants come in contact with humans and usually frustrated elephants dash any human they come across. they rightly associate humans with their problems as all their routes are cut by highways with no provisions for right of way to elephants.
Ankit,
The Odiya book that I had referred earlier in the article was by Shri Gadadhar Ray. Title was “Danta hatira pratihinsha”. I guess it would have been out of circulation for a long long time.
Elephants are gentle creatures. I find them extremely understanding. Unfortunately when they pass through conflict zones like mines, maoist, mafia etc they are already extremely tensed. Jharkhand guys try to push them into Bengal territory and the Bengal officials push them back. So it is a tough life for them. So the moment they see a person close by, they fear more trouble and hence charge.
The post is really good. Its really sad how people do not follow the rules of the forest.
Could you guide me / help me to get a copy of the Book ” Among the Elephants ” authored by
lain Douglas Hamilton ? I live in Coimbatore in Tamilnadu in South India. My Contact number
is 0- 9443045758 . Thanks
Hi Nochur,
Sorry for the late reply. Second hand copies of the book is available in Amazon.
Cheers,
Sabyasachi
SIR…what should we do when see an elephant at night satnding on the road?
we should off the headlamp????
or dim and bright?
or blow horn continuesly?
if it stand in middle of road not allowing to move?
if charges?
Never blow the horn. It will get irritated. Also, don’t switch on and switch off the light continuously. Captive elephants are known to run amok after photographers have used camera flash.
Just wait at a respectable distance. It will slowly eat and then move away. If you irritate it or just try to brush past it, the elephant may gently pat your car and that would result in colossal damage. 🙂
Normally it will make a mock charge if you are close. Better to wait at a distance. Soon some idiot will not listen and then will try to overtake and bear the brunt. You shouldn’t be around to get some collateral damage due to others stupidity either. Just have patience and wait and watch the elephant. Remember even in Safari’s people don’t get to watch elephants. So consider yourself to be lucky. 🙂
it is very informative and helpful..I have had an incident at Bandipur national park I was in a bike trip with friends suddenly an elephant appeared in front of us.the elephant charged to us we ran away by leaving our bikes in the road.By our luck he didn’t do anything to our bikes.after sometimes we took back the bike and drive away it in fast as we can.the elephant was charged because
of a transport bus which horned to him..it was very terrified moment in my life.
It is unfortunate that the bus driver honked. Most of the time the elephants keep a watchful eye and don’t do anything to the people. Only if they feel that you are too close to them or their calf or when you honk and irritate them do they charge. It is actually very important to keep an eye on other tourists/drivers as because of their stupidity one can be charged at.
Dear Patra,
Wonderfully written with valuable tips. I recently had a charge from a lone tusker in the wild, however I was at a safe distance (and a deep wide moat between us!!).. was not sure if it mock charged or real, reading your article and remembering, it mock charged.. though I noticed it lifting its leg up before charging, i did not know that was a warning sign for charging.. thanks again for your article !!
that’s definitily good speech mr.Dheeraj …..i know that too because i’m work on safari guide in TANZANIA PARKS
I have seen a video when an elephant attempted to attack a jeep the driver horned with loud sound followed by highbeam of light. The Elephant went back making clear passage for the jeep-
Wild elephants are very dangerous and most people don’t know this and they think they are like circus elephants and playful to human beings. Especially the lone tuskers are most dangerous even they can make a lorry upsidedown.simply they smash and crush a car or jeep flat to the ground. It can push down a big tree. It can stand with its hind legs and reach up to 20feet hight with its trunk.it can run up to 40km speed with an angry charge. It’s memory is better than humans. If the elephant is trained and converted in to domestic animal it is very useful to human beings in many ways . Elephants are capable of climbing over the walls up to 8feet hight and it can kick back up to 8 feet hight with its hind legs and can leap also .
I like this and its helpful for me. Thanks for spend your valuable time on my post.
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