Elephant sightings in Nagarhole are not an unusual sight. On a sunny day, they can be spotted swimming in the Kabini River.

Elephant (Elephas maximus)

During the safari today, we saw an Elephant enjoying a soak in the water. We observed him from a distance and as we were about to proceed toward the forest, we saw him coming out of the water.

Elephant (Elephas maximus)

In the excitement of seeing him upfront, we decided to stay. There was something clumsy about his gait. When he finally came out of the water, we noticed that some nylon thread was entangled between his legs. On closer observation, we realized that it was in fact a fishing net that was entwined between his legs.

Elephant (Elephas maximus)

Elephant (Elephas maximus)

He maneuvered to the best of his ability but by then, the net seemed to have gained an inseparable fondness for him. If it left his leg, it clung to his tail, if it left his tail, it hugged his trunk and so, there was no escaping.

Elephant (Elephas maximus)

After several attempts, he decided to seek the support of a dwarfed bark which was nearby. He rubbed himself against it but soon realized that his efforts were futile. A sudden moment of enlightenment struck him and he soon started circling around the bark. Once he found a tight grip he moved away from the only support he found and finally managed to rid himself of his new found clingy love.

It took a good twenty minutes for the Tusker to finally rid himself of the net; and I must admit that while the guests and I found it amusing, at the same time, we couldn’t help but feel completely helpless. I wanted to help him out but I knew that the outcome of this entrapment would prove to be a significant survival lesson for him.


Thankfully, this time he succeeded but most often than not, these instances result in injuries leading to severe human wildlife conflicts. Luckily, our intervention was not required and the Tusker finally managed to free himself. We left the spot allowing him to enjoy his freedom.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 21st, 2009 at 5:00 pm and is filed under Herbivores. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.