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Lovelorn tusker risks life to rescue fiancee
In an amazing display of bonding, a “Cupid-struck” male captive tusker from Jaldapara (West) Forest range, in North Bengal actually risked his life to protect his “lady love”, a female captive elephant, from a wild herd of jumbos.
Normally, kunki (captive and trained) elephants are reared by the forest department to chase away wild elephants from human settlements back to the forest. But in this rare tale of reversal, it was this male captive tusker who was pushed away from the shed by a wild herd to the forest where he was attacked. In the process, he sustained serious injuries whereby a major part of the tail had to be amputated.
Narrating the incident, Range Officer Ranjan Talukdar, pointed out that the female pachyderm Lakshmi and the male Shambhu were a part of a group of captive six captive elephants in Halong Central Pilkhana (elephant shed). “As evident from their apparent gestures, Lakshmi, aged about 13 years seemed to have developed a special chemistry with Shambhu, a mature tusker in the shed,” says Talukdar.
However, what followed was incredible. “For the past few days, a wild elephant was seen coming near the shed and it was apparent that he wanted to mate with Lakshmi, the only female in the shed,” says Durga Mahout (attendant) looking after Shambhu. However, Shambhu’s gestures of trying to stop him by blocking his path were obvious. “He would simply walk up to him and stand in front sometimes emanating noises — which was enough to put away the wild jumbo for a while,” recalls Durga.
But the wild pachyderm reappeared this time at night early this week with members from his herd, catching Shambhu unawares. Even the wooden post to which he was chained in the shed was uprooted by these wild elephants and Shambhu was pushed into the forest. In the attack that followed Shambhu was left badly injured.
“We found him about half-a-kilometre away from the shed in a critical condition. The portion near his tail was bleeding profusely,” says Durga. According to Ashok Kumar Singha, the vet doctor treating upon him, the injuries were found near the tail. There were deep lacerating wounds inflicted by tusks and nearly one foot of the tail had to be amputated.
“It may be hard to believe that even animals can develop such strong bonds of love,” says Dhriti Kanto Chowdhary, a wildlife expert working in the area. The growing bonding between the two were noticed when they would be left free during grazing or taken out for bathing, he adds.
Analyzing the incident, Suparna Ganguly, expert on captive elephants and member of the elephant task force constituted by the Environment Ministry said, “The elephants, particularly those kept in captivity, can develop very strong bonding with their partners, which is even known to last life time.” This is likely to be the case for Shambhu as well. The wild herd on the other hand, could have been in a state of “Musth”, a periodic condition in male elephants characterised by highly aggressive behaviour, accompanied by a dramatic rise in the level of testosterone (a principal male sex hormone). An elephant in musth is much stronger than in normal circumstances. The female elephant in the shed was also likely to be in her periodic state of estrus or heat ready for mating, which is identified by a male elephant by various indications, including smell. This explains the repeated arrival of the wild elephant to the shed, she added.
In an amazing display of bonding, a “Cupid-struck” male captive tusker from Jaldapara (West) Forest range, in North Bengal actually risked his life to protect his “lady love”, a female captive elephant, from a wild herd of jumbos.
Normally, kunki (captive and trained) elephants are reared by the forest department to chase away wild elephants from human settlements back to the forest. But in this rare tale of reversal, it was this male captive tusker who was pushed away from the shed by a wild herd to the forest where he was attacked. In the process, he sustained serious injuries whereby a major part of the tail had to be amputated.
Narrating the incident, Range Officer Ranjan Talukdar, pointed out that the female pachyderm Lakshmi and the male Shambhu were a part of a group of captive six captive elephants in Halong Central Pilkhana (elephant shed). “As evident from their apparent gestures, Lakshmi, aged about 13 years seemed to have developed a special chemistry with Shambhu, a mature tusker in the shed,” says Talukdar.
However, what followed was incredible. “For the past few days, a wild elephant was seen coming near the shed and it was apparent that he wanted to mate with Lakshmi, the only female in the shed,” says Durga Mahout (attendant) looking after Shambhu. However, Shambhu’s gestures of trying to stop him by blocking his path were obvious. “He would simply walk up to him and stand in front sometimes emanating noises — which was enough to put away the wild jumbo for a while,” recalls Durga.
But the wild pachyderm reappeared this time at night early this week with members from his herd, catching Shambhu unawares. Even the wooden post to which he was chained in the shed was uprooted by these wild elephants and Shambhu was pushed into the forest. In the attack that followed Shambhu was left badly injured.
“We found him about half-a-kilometre away from the shed in a critical condition. The portion near his tail was bleeding profusely,” says Durga. According to Ashok Kumar Singha, the vet doctor treating upon him, the injuries were found near the tail. There were deep lacerating wounds inflicted by tusks and nearly one foot of the tail had to be amputated.
“It may be hard to believe that even animals can develop such strong bonds of love,” says Dhriti Kanto Chowdhary, a wildlife expert working in the area. The growing bonding between the two were noticed when they would be left free during grazing or taken out for bathing, he adds.
Analyzing the incident, Suparna Ganguly, expert on captive elephants and member of the elephant task force constituted by the Environment Ministry said, “The elephants, particularly those kept in captivity, can develop very strong bonding with their partners, which is even known to last life time.” This is likely to be the case for Shambhu as well. The wild herd on the other hand, could have been in a state of “Musth”, a periodic condition in male elephants characterised by highly aggressive behaviour, accompanied by a dramatic rise in the level of testosterone (a principal male sex hormone). An elephant in musth is much stronger than in normal circumstances. The female elephant in the shed was also likely to be in her periodic state of estrus or heat ready for mating, which is identified by a male elephant by various indications, including smell. This explains the repeated arrival of the wild elephant to the shed, she added.
