Elephant Power Shower!

We were driving on the president road at Kabini forest and sighted a huge tusker; he seemed clam and walked quietly ahead of us towards the backwaters. After a while it was interesting to watch him cross the backwaters of river kabini and before he reached the other side, he had a nice power shower, displaying the capability of his trunk. It is always amazing to see elephants bathe and most elephants like to spend a lot of time playing in the water. Did you know that the elephant’s trunk can hold up to 4 litres of water?

Asian elephants are the largest living land animals in Asia. These elephants are rather long-lived, with a maximum recorded life span of 86 years.

The distinctive trunk is an elongation of the nose and upper lip combined; the nostrils are at its tip, which has a one finger-like process. The trunk contains as many as 60,000 muscles. The length of the trunk may vary from 1.5 to 2 m (59 to 79 in) or longer depending on the species and age. The trunk is a multipurpose prehensile organ and highly sensitive, Elephants use their trunks for breathing, watering, feeding, touching, dusting, sound production and communication, washing, pinching, grasping, defense and offense.

Camera - Canon EOS 7D, Canon f4.5-5.6 100-400mm lens
EXIF - ISO 400 Av 5.6 Tv 1/640 sec, EC - 0.3, focal length 400mm, almost full frame — at Rajiv Gandhi National Park, Kabini Backwaters.
Shot during Nov'12

Nice behaviour well documented. Lovely horizontally carried evenly curved tusks.Thanks for sharing.SaktiWild

nice. wud been super wit some eye contact.

TFS
Roopak

Nice capture and information. The musculine trunk, I read, can even lift a paper pin... is it true?

Thaks for sharing.

Nice behavior captured. The water splash looks good. Thanks for sharing.

Lovely moment captured,nice image.............
TFS

Nice spray. Shows the use of the trunk well. I agree with Roopak regarding eye contact. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi