Tusker

[Praveen Siddannavar]

Since 1986, Asian Elephants has been listed as endangered by IUCN as the population has declined by at least 50%. The key threats to Asian elephants today are loss, degradation and fragmentation of habitat, leading in turn to increasing conflicts between humans and elephants. They are poached for ivory and a variety of other products including meat and leather.
Spotted this tusker very close to the main road quietly grazing, he seemed calm and trumpeted only once, interestingly he provided us plenty of opportunities to photograph him at various angles. Surprisingly this image is shot with a telephoto lens, other images that I made are with shorter focal length to cover more of the habitat. I loved the tusks of this guy, very unusual to see them curved inward and touching each other. I always thought it will be uncomfortable for maneuvering the trunk, but these are the most intelligent animals and it was good to see him use the trunk at ease.

Camera – Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon f4 500mm lens
EXIF – ISO 800 Av 4 Tv 1/200 sec, Cropped for composition
Location - Rajiv Gandhi National Park, Nagarahole, Kabini
13th Oct'13

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Solitary male elephant, whether or not true bull has always been of great interest to nature lovers and photographers and is known for its unpredictable response. Tusks are thick and of moderate length. Pose and details are nice.Thanks for sharing.SaktiWild

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Interesting pose. The front foreleg is arched like a trunk. :) It would have been nice to have some more space at the bottom. Wish the tree stump was not there infront of the hind leg. The flowers on its head look like offering to Lord Ganesha. May this majestic creature roam throughout the length and breadth of this country in peace.

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

'A quiz in Indian Art':

"It would be hard to name the best dozen elephants in our sculpture even if one were familiar with them all, which I am not. But I hazard the guess that among them would be the young tusker in bas-relief shown here. Observe how the sloping forehead, thick tusks, short-coupled body and unfolded ear of the still youthful tusker have all been faithfully remembered here - obviously the beast is almost full grown, but has still many years to "furnish" in, before it attains the full majesty of its maturity. Where and across which wall or pillar does this restive adolescent pace, the limbs on each side moving together to give it the characteristic rolling gait of an elephant in a moody hurry? That is for you to guess."- M.Krishnan

Does this image fall in that category?

SaktiWild