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Indian Elephant
Elephas maximus
15.0143, 75.5292
Field Notes
Description:
The Indian Elephant is a sub-species of the Asian Elephant. The head is twin-domed, the ears smaller, and the size - smaller as compared to the African Elephant.
Habitat:
They inhabit grasslands, dry deciduous, moist deciduous, evergreen and semi-evergreen forests. In India, wild elephant populations are restricted to four general areas:
1. in the Northwest — at the foot of the Himalayas in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh
2. in the Northeast – from the eastern border of Nepal in northern West Bengal through western Assam, extending into eastern Arunachal Pradesh, the plains of upper Assam, and the foothills of Nagaland, to Meghalaya, to parts of the lower Brahmaputra plains and Karbi Plateau; isolated herds occur in Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, and in the Barak Valley districts of Assam
3. in the central part — in Orissa, Jharkhand, and in the southern part of West Bengal, with some animals wandering into Chhattisgarh;
3. in the South – eight populations are fragmented from each other in northern Karnataka
Notes:
Prior to this trip, I had visited several wildlife sanctuaries in Central India and had failed to spot any elephants in the wild. Therefore this spotting was a first for me - and what a memorable first. This young tusker was a pure delight to watch. He went about his business of snacking on the leaves, pretending not to notice us. However the smallest noise in our jeep would make him look our way, alert and aggressive - ready to show us who was boss. He flicked his ears and looked us in the eyes, daring us to advance. Goosebumps!
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