Here comes your daily lesson in elephantology. I knew there were broadly two species of elephant: African and Indian or Asian and that African elephants are larger and have bigger ears than Asian elephants but I didn’t know that African elephants have a two-lipped trunk and Indian elephants a one-lipped trunk. Neither did I know that Sri Lankan elephants are a subspecies of Indian elephant known as Elephas-Maximus-Maximus. I didn’t quite catch from the guide the full differences from the usual Indian Elephant – Elephas-Maximus but I think it because the elephants here have larger ears and a distinctive reddish pigment to the skin on their trunks and ears.
It was, however, a pleasure to watch these magnificent animals enjoying their time in this sparkling river. I was a bit surprised that most just stood in the river waving their trunks, sometimes being splashed with water by their mahouts. In the Etosha National Park in Namibia last year elephants tended to be more active in the water having first chased away giraffes, gnus and impala so that they could bathe in peace in the muddy water.
There were a few more adventurous animals that tried their mahout’s patience to the limit by trying to scrounge food from the tourists – feeding was strictly forbidden of course since these animals are semi wild – but this didn’t stop some people who were roundly reprimanded by the attendant mahouts. The mother and baby shown in the photo were particularly persistent in creeping back for another try when the mahout’s back was turned.
No comments:
Post a Comment