What is not crossing?

[Mohan Raj]

Tell us what is not crossing?

[Mrudul Godbole]

A very apt title. The message is nicely conveyed through the photograph, it makes you think. I hope people understand who is the intruder. Thanks for sharing.

[Bibhav Behera]

Apt title, However inside a national park, I wonder if the vehicle was actually intruding, it seems far off to cause any tension.
Looking at a macro level, yes... Habitat loss and breaking of elephant corridors has definitely happened due to humans.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Thought provoking post.

We often say that "I saw an elephant cross the road" or "I photographed a herd of elephants crossing the road".

However, we don't realise that the concept of road for elephants is different. They don't need metalled or dirt tracks like we do. They have been using these corridors for ages. With the passage of time, people came into the scene and colonised the forests, cleared those for cultivation, created roads dissecting the forests and in that process the migratory corridor of these gentle giants. So from that perspective, the elephant or herd of elephants are moving in their path. It is the road created by us that cuts their path. So definitely the elephant is not "crossing" as per the poll question.

Thanks for the thought provoking poll.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Lakshminarayanan Nataraja]

I have the same as Sabyasachi has.

We have interfered too much in elephants' ways.

R. Arumugam, consultant with WTI-India has done extensive study on Mudumalai elephants along with Sukumar when he was with IISC. In one forum he has said, elephants communicate through several means and one of the means is through their feet, which is said to pick up signals.

In the forest floor this form of communication is possible. This is still possible with dirt tracks but not in well laid tar or metal roads. To have well laid roads in elephant jungles is wrong.

[Mohan Raj]

This question was asked to me by Dr. Tolstoy and I in-turn asked you in this forum. Thanks Dr. Tolstoy for the concept. :thumbup:

[Mohan Raj]

With lot of linear intrusions coming up in the forests, I hope this question will make lot of people to think again about the roads.