kudos Karnataka !

[Bhargava Srivari]

We had started from JLR-bandipur and were heading towards kabini when at 11:40am precisely, we were blocked from proceeding further by a jeep belonging to Project Tiger, bandipur!
On enquiring with the forest personnel, we got to know that a herd of elephants were migrating from Satyamangalam to kabini/bandipur and the pachyderms would cross the road anytime.
I quickly grabbed my camera and set it up ready to shoot...we were hearing a lot of crackers being burnt and gunshots were fired into the air!
In what the estimated 5 minutes became a long 25min, the elephants finally crossed the road and entered the man-made forest on the other side:)
During the short conversation I had had with the range officer, I realised that elephants used to cause quite some damage to the crops in the area
until a couple of years ago, when the forest dept. of Karnataka created patches of man-made forests, and fenced the other parts of the route through the villages.
So, the elephants didn't really have a choice but to enter the urban/human-created forest and proceed towards their destination:)
Incidentally, it was the first time I had seen a herd of 11 elephants in which all were tuskers!
Seven elephants can be seen in the frame..too bad though that the tusker on the far left isn't bright enoguh:(

Canon 60D
sigma 150-500mm
handheld, on foot

f/7
EV 0
1/320sec
ISO 400
focal length 250mm
FULL FRAME

[Mrudul Godbole]

Nice to see so many tuskers. It is good you got a few in the open. It sure is a big problem for these elephants to do their migration. The composition is nice. Thanks for sharing the information.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

There are more number of elephants who are outside our present day Protected Areas. You may refer to an excellent article which was posted earlier by Vikram Nanjappa.
Protected ? - Indiawilds: Land of the Tiger. Conservation, Wildlife Photography, Communities (http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1455)

Though elephant has been acknowledged as the National Heritage animal, there has been hardly any funds available for securing the migration path and the areas used by elephants that fall outside our present day Protected Areas.

Watching these majestic and intelligent animals moving around and going about their day to day chores is always a delight. Often I am amazed at the manner in which these elephants wait silently on the road side for a lull in the traffic to cross over. If we can have even one percent of their patience and understanding than the road rage cases will vanish.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Bhargava Srivari]

Sabyasachi

Thank you for sharing the link. The article is great and has some important information on conservation:)

We can sure do away with road calamities if we have the patience that elephants have! I had observed an elephant mother and calf wait by the side of the Ooty highway for over 30 minutes before finally crossing the road...their patience is simply puzzling!

[Roopak Gangadharan]

Nice image. this seems to be a bachelor herd.dont get to see this often. well done.

TFS
Roopak