Seeing an elephant in the wild is always very exciting. I have seen so many in the past while driving around the forests of Karnataka, India. It is scary sometimes, but we have not have any problem thus far except for once when a lone elephant tusker was staring angrily at the cars on the road. We were not to close to the tusker, but we know how dangerous lone tuskers can be. However, the tusker suddenly changed his mind and made a U turn into the forest and we could breathe freely.
Let me get back to the walk I was describing before I digressed to tuskers. Actually this time we were walking to the elephant training school in the middle of the forest. We had stopped the car a little further from the school so we didn't disturb the animals. It was at that moment we saw this elephant, and thought it was an elephant in the wild. Sadly as we watched the head moved forward, we saw the mahout and his assistant sitting on the back of this huge creature. What a disappointment!
This elephant was going from the training school to the field for training. The mahout asked us why we were walking through the forest. We told him that we were going to the training school. The man had a good laugh and told us we were walking in the opposite direction. He then guided us in the right direction.
At the training school baby elephants were being trained. We were not allowed photograph them as it would distract their training. Even unnecessary movements from the crowd was restricted. Since the training was quite early in the morning there wasn't much of a crowd there.
The elephant calves were new for training and they were given basic training. They were asked to climb on a stool and stand on it. Most of them were quite clumsy but cute. Sadly the older elephants were on field duty and had gone elsewhere. I was told that they had gone to clear some trees which had fallen into the river.
I was glad to have seen the older elephant going out earlier. This was the only elephant I could take photographs of that day. This is one of the close up shots I got that day.
Have you wondered why elephants have these white patches on their faces and body? It is the equivalent of elephant freckles. Elephant calves don't have these patches, they are a deep grey color all over. These Patches appear as the elephants age and it has to do with their diet or hereditary . I read that African elephants do not have these patches. These patches are common only in Asian elephants. Source
In India you would see elephants decorated with Hindu religious symbols on their forehead. Elephants are found in huge temples and palaces of the former kings and queens who ruled India. Elephants are worshiped here and people even seek blessings from them.
For me it is always a great day to see these magnificent creatures. When I was younger they would bring elephants to our streets and people would take blessings from them after giving the mahout and the elephant an offering. Now we only see them in the forests and national animal reserves.
Even though our walk in the forest was short I wanted to share this walk with you on the #wednesdaywalk community. These images were taken a few years ago. It's been raining here and its really hard to take a walk on these chilly mornings.
I hope you enjoyed this walk with me. Thank you for your support, it is greatly appreciated.
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