South India Elephant Sanctuaries
by Deborah McLaren
My 6-year-old son, Anil, is originally from India so going back to visit his homeland is a priority for our family. One of his dreams has been to learn about and ride on an elephant, so we decided to do just that! Through recommendations, the Internet, and eco-travel lists, we discovered Dubare Elephant Camp (part of Jungle Lodges, an Indian government-private partnership that runs a series of wildlife camps), as well as the privately run Elephant Valley.
Anil and friends riding an elephant through Dubare Elephant Camp
From Mysore, in Karnataka, we drove northwest to the Cauvary River, which was flooded due to the monsoon rains. When we arrived we were directed into a small motor boat, which battled the raging, flooded waters to reach the elephant camp on the far shore. The camp is set up as a free-roaming area for the elephants with separate areas for feeding and training, as well as tourist quarters and an open-air restaurant.
Our stone cabin was simple but extremely clean, interestingly decorated, and cozy. The head chef prepared delicious south Indian meals that included rice cakes (iddlys) and curries. We saw one of the fish used for our dinners being hand-delivered from the river to the cookhouse. In the evening, we watched films about elephant ecology, in particular the plight of the elephants at Dubare Elephant Camp.
Traditionally, local tribal men trained as mahouts (elephant handlers or drivers), begin their job from boyhood, when each is assigned a baby elephant to work with throughout their lifetimes. An elephant is considered part of the family, and the role of the family is to pass critical knowledge and skills needed from one generation to the next. The young mahout grows up with his elephant, and together they develop a bond based on trust and affection.
Elephants are very social animals, having their own community rules and customs. Their large brains let them record memories and store experiences such as droughts, migration routes, and the best feeding places. Elephants create strongly bonded family units and appear to communicate over relatively long distances by means of infrasonic (low frequency) calls that we are not able to hear with our human ears. They have also been venerated in India for hundreds of years and are the carriers of Indra, the King of the Gods. Elephant festivals and ceremonies are common. The annual Ganpathi observance celebrates the elephant-headed God Ganesh and is one of the most important holidays of the year. They serve as the emblem of Buddhism and are prominent in the stories of the Buddha.
Anil stops at a roadside temple to pay respects to Ganesh, the elephant-headed Hindu God
In the past elephants were used primarily for logging the forests (as well as for hauling, military work, and in temples); however, with dwindling forests and increased efforts to protect elephants, they are being spared this brutal work, which damages their trunks and tusks. In addition, elephants have been brutally killed for their tusks to the point of becoming an endangered species. The large-scale poaching of elephants for ivory started in earnest in the late seventies and has been an ongoing threat ever since. There are still many problems facing these amazing animals, mostly problems brought about by humans.