Assessing the Dannger --Elephants of Periyar

[Shyamala Kumar]

The Driver of our vehicle had switched off the engine,and we clicked as silently as humanly possible.We watched fascinated as the elephants came to a halt and changed formation, probably, to have a side vision of the intruders.Apparently, though the elephant`s sense of smell and sound is very good its frontal vision is poor.Three trunks were raised in a silent assessment of the the situation.It is interesting to note that the small calf has been kept practically invisible.Canon 60D+100-400mm 1/400s ISO 800 FL250mm F/5.6.Late afternoon Sept 2014 Periyar

[Mrudul Godbole]

Its good you got enough time to observe their behavior. As you have said the young calf is behind the mother and not visible and the older calf can be seen with the raised trunk. How long was the total sighting? Thanks for sharing.

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Protective cover for a short period looking at intrusion of Jeep and the human beings. Well done. The image would have been even better if you could capture the eyes of the calf, though you have covered its trunk.

Coming to the preamble (which is always nice).....'its frontal vision is poor'; it may not be that ineffective , but due to bulge of its cheeks and base of its trunk, it moves forward with head little cocked to have a better view. Very evident when lone tusker is walking fast forward or charging.
Thanks for sharing.SaktiWild

[Shyamala Kumar]

Saktipadaji you have rightly analyzed the reason why the elephants generally cock their heads to one side whenever they want a better view of a scene ahead.Thanks for the review.

[Murugan Anantharaman]

Nice picture Shyamalaji. The formation looks interesting, reminds me of the elephant scene in jungle book :). Thanks for sharing.