I agree that one should not deliberately provoke elephants to get charging pictures. In south, especially in bandipur, kabini areas photographers are known to provoke elephants to charge.

In Corbett, I know of cases where the tourist jeeps knowingly move close to the elephant and press the accelerator to make noise so that the elephant charges.

In places like Rajaji, the situation is different. The elephants are already stressed due to road, railway, canal cutting across their habitat and huge anthropogenic pressures. Tourism pressure is much lower in scale and impact. Here elephants are known to even make mock charge and full charge without photographers providing a helping hand. Unless the elephants find sufficient space, they are bound to react differently. We need to reconnect our reserves and other protected areas to give them the freedom to follow their traditional migratory paths.

Sabyasachi