Elephant Charging

[Dr Ajay Kumar Singh]

Elephant Charging at Jeep, Dhikala, Jim Corbett, May 24, 2014.

EOS 5D II, EF70-200 f/2.8, 135mm, F/5.6, 1/2000, ISO 400, cropped a little from right

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Nice image. Fastest pace is fast walk which is visible and both the eyes look so symmetrical and beautiful in the photograph of the elephant in the foreground. Thanks for sharing.SaktiWild

[Debasis Bose]

Wonderful action shot.

[Subhash Shrivastava]

a battle formation with a vanguard in attack and rear guard keeping close watch. I hope it was a mock attack. Hope there are lesser reasons for an elephant to show it's aggression. Wild elephants are under historically high stress level.
thanks for sharing.

[Roopak Gangadharan]

I would go on a lot more plain speaking than subash ....we need to refrain from driving them to the point of charging at us....what is it the message here...and iam being very specific with a large mamal like an elephant...anybody who takes a basic interest in wildlife and naturalhistory know why these gentle gaints are behaving like this.there are hundreds of images and videos floating around on the net of elephants charging.what are these records trying to communicate?? Is it just a record of someone's quest for thrill and excitement or are we trying to tell all those who have never seen this that this is what we have done to a species known for is intelligence, bonding, family ties and most importantly its love and loyalty to the human race that they come charging at us for no reason???? What is the aggression of this gentle species against the human race being showcased for??? Pls don't tell me that there is even a remotely intended ( forget specifically conscious) message for giving them their space and peaceful coexistence....anything less than that i wouldn't bother to even glance at these images. It is a very personal opinion ofcourse
Roopak

[Sabyasachi Patra]

How much of a crop is this? I think atleast half a stop of negative exposure compensation would have been better.

I agree that since both the eyes are visible it looks symmetrical. Generally I prefer either to shoot when the lens is positioned to look directly at the animal/bird or else use a side profile.

I agree with Roopak's sentiments as a lot of people looking for cheap thrills are instigating elephant to charge at their jeep. Earlier there used to be a once in a lifetime event. Now with too many tourists in the forest and everyone being aggressive to get that "charging shot", these gentle giants are a harassed lot. They expend a lot of energy and those high stress that they face during such situations is not good for them.

I would however look at an image of an elephant charging at a photographer on foot with a lot of interest. Till date I know of no surviving man who moves close to the elephants on foot and holds his ground when the elephant is charging.

I am not accusing you of instigating an elephant, as I don't know the situation. At times moving close to an elephant ie breaching its comfort zone will invite a charge. If elephants have been stressed before, they are more prone to charge rather than move away. All of us have our comfort zones. Just watch people queuing up before airline boarding pass counters and you find them elbowing gently at each other to make space. If we need space then so to other animals and we should respect that.

It would be better to avoid such situations by stopping the vehicle at a safe distance from the elephant. They understand and give us space. Unfortunately I have found people to be really impatient and have even tried to sneak past an elephant. Forget about elephants, I know of many people who meet with a herd of sheep or goats and honk relentlessly hoping these small creatures will understand and give them the way. Unfortunately the result of such honking is to make those sheep further excited and scatter infront of the car so that you lose more time in the process. In the forest we were supposed to leave behind our impatient stressful city life behind and enjoy. Unfortunately, we do transmit our stress to the jungle folks.

[Dr Ajay Kumar Singh]

Thanks for the comments. I agree with all the critics as well the comments. I liked and appreciate the personal thoughts as well. At least it makes me feel good that many people are here to work for the betterment of this beautiful creature. In fact it was our fault we were watching this small herd from the road while they were coming out of the jungle and unknowingly we were standing on their path. She charged us and we retreated back clearing their path from where they all crossed the road and went downhill. This is simple nothing to think more about moving very close knowingly or instigating them for photographs or many other theories. Of course I felt nice in capturing at least something in uneven lights with moving vehicle as well as moving creature.

Sabyasachi the image has been cropped by around 10% from the right. I have attached the image with half a stop less exposure. Thanks for your suggestion.

[Debasis Bose]

Dear Ajay/Roopak/Sabyasachi, In Corbett during summer time, ritual like congregation of elephants takes place as water and food is available in plenty within Dhikala zone. Elephants migrates from nearby Rajaji national park, sonandi NP, Sitabani into CTR, every nook and corner one can see elephants.

The most dangerous are the ones, those who silently waits camouflaged behind the bushes and tree trunks, one needs to be extremely wary and careful of such herds or elephants.

During summer in most of the occasion the encounter with pachyderms are sudden, and mock charge are inevitable if they feel threatened. In very rare cases I have noticed normal tourists intentionally moves close to the elephants, in fact I have seen professionals are the ones who close in to have a better shot and with them, drivers and guides flout the rules most. In Corbett the drivers and the guides are very careful and they never take the vehicle closer than 25-30m of any animals, unless it is a sudden encounter or charge, however, few exceptions cannot be overruled.

Once we had an unintentional close encounter with musth tusker on sambar road (it is a one way narrow lane) at the blind bend on the steep slope of Khabdi. We were in such a situation that reversing the jeep on the steep slope of Khabdi was not a good option as the engine would roar with acceleration and that would have irritated the tusker and he would have felt threatened and either charged or turned and ran. But with the musth bull probability of charge was more likely than fleeing. The only option with us was switch off the ignition, sit still and pray, as one side was a straight fall of about 10 m, other side was slope with about 60-65 degree inclination with dense foliage and behind was a steep gradient strewn with pebble stones. My son was then 9 years and daughter about 11 years both of them were nervous. Without speaking any word by action told them to slide under the seats of Gypsy. My 73 year old mother was seated next to driver, told her to close her eyes. We waited with the tusker about 10-12 m away from the bonnet of the gypsy, flapping his huge ears and moving his trunk. Every minute seemed like a year, after about 5 to 10 minutes of anxiety, the tusker decided to give way and slowly he climbed up 15 m the inclined slope of 60 to 65 degree, making his way through the growth and stood there, staring at us, as if saying go man go before I lose my cool. We just zoomed across, there was another jeep on the top of the slope and we could hear the panic sounds of the tourist from the gypsy, the driver of their gypsy reversed his way back to Dhikala. We waited at a safe distance to see what the tusker does next. The bull slowly came down on the road and started to walk towards Dhikala.

Agree there are few rowdy tourist but they can be only noise pollutant at the worse as the drivers and guides in corbett has the authority to take them away. Mostly the rules are flouted by regulars, bureaucrats and professional photographers. Cheers Debasis

[Dr Ajay Kumar Singh]

Bose bhai you are very lucky and had narrow escape. I can imagine how your family would have gone through the moments that you have written. Very frightening experience. You are right about the charging of camouflaged elephant. The same happened to us. We were watching the 2 visible elephants and suddenly from the nearby she came charging at us.

[Vipin Sharma]

Dear Ajay , perfect lens EF70-200 f/2.8 used here for this action , however by saying so I do not support people who deliberately try and provoke for charging.
I did faced same situation during my last visit to Corbett in Apr-14 , and unfortunately the elephant mother was provoked by the forest guard.

[Kaustuv Chatterjee]

Debasis, that's a very tense and potentially dangerous encounter you and your family had. According to the celebrated biologist and conservationist Dr A J T Johnsingh, there is no animal more dangerous than a bull elephant in musht. Am glad it all ended in a way that you could tell the story of this thrilling encounter. I know Sambar road and the area you talk about, nasty place to get cornered by an elephant!

[Debasis Bose]

You are right Kaustuv, it was a tense situation for us. To my surprise the driver and the guide did not display any fear or reacted to the situation, they just told us to be quiet.