Jumbo Transport
Whilst the 747, known as the jumbo jet, may no longer be carrying us through the skies, the Asian elephant, also a jumbo, is still doing sterling service on terra firma. I was back in Kaziranga National Park in Assam and I was very much looking forward to a safari on the broad back of an elephant.
We’d traveled in the early hours to reach Kaziranga before six a.m. when our safari was due to start. The elephant ride lasts an hour and is conducted in the cool of the morning, a time better for tourists and elephants and also a time when the wildlife of the park were more likely to be active. As we drove to the zone where the rides started we were just in time to see the 5a.m. safari returning through the misty morning light. I was delighted to see not only several adult elephants with their tourists on board but also four baby elephants which were happily traveling next to their mums.
The departure lounge was rather different to that of an airport. A concrete building, in the round, had two docking stations where the elephants could load and unload their passengers at a suitable height. Having waited for the previous group to disembark and to travel down the steps to ground level, it was our turn to ascend and stand by the docking station we had been assigned to. I was surprised that the majority of the elephants we were to ride were quite small, obviously females, and that their harness was suitable for two passengers as well as the mahout who sat behind the elephant’s head. It seemed as though most of the elephants from the previous trip had done their work for the day and new ones were positioned ready for us to embark. Having decided I’d sit at the front to hopefully get photos, my long suffering wife took the rear seat and I then clambered aboard. Definitely not business class as the seat was hard with a metal handle to hold onto and a plank running horizontally the length of the elephant to rest our feet on.
We lurched forward. I was surprised at the movement of the jumbo. Unlike horses this was side to side and took a while to get used to. We moved away from the departure area and, with several other elephants with their tourists, set out across the short grasslands towards ten foot high elephant grass. One of the advantages of riding on an elephant, rather than in a jeep, was that we could go off road. Another advantage was that the elephant allowed us to get closer to the wildlife than a noisy jeep. It wasn’t long before we had seen a wild boar with young and several herds of swamp deer up close and personal. One of the disadvantages of riding at the front of an elephant is that the plank along the side stops before it reaches the elephant’s head and is replaced by a chain or rope which goes around the elephant’s chest. Unfortunately for me, the plank started a little bit too far back for a comfortable foot position, especially if I was twisting and turning to get photos of the creatures we passed. It had to happen and it did. Suddenly I was stricken with excruciating cramp. Normally I’d hop around, rub the leg violently, probably swear and by pressing down on a cold surface, work it off. Try doing that on an elephant in ten foot high grass! The mahout realized my predicament but could do nothing to solve the problem. My wife disowned me and became fixated by a distant rhino whilst other tourists looked on in a bemused state. Eventually, with frantic rubbing and silent swearing the pain subsided and I could eventually concentrate on the sight of a rhino and calf peering out at us through the elephant grass.
All too soon we were on our way back with our elephant speeding up as she realized that her work was nearly done. Getting off the jumbo was harder than getting on, particularly as we had got stiff in our uncomfortable position and I was still suffering the after effects of the cramp. Eventually we descended to feed treats to our willing transport. What I really loved was that the elephants then had their harnesses removed and were allowed to wander off to the river for playtime. My final view of them was the whole family, including the calves, frolicking in the water whilst the mahouts prepared food for them after their exertions.
I took this trip in 2015. Since then there has been a movement to ban the use of elephants for tourists and forestry work. In India, elephants are no longer able to be captured and broken in from the wild. Penalties have increased with hefty fines and up to seven years imprisonment for the capturing, selling on without certification or for cruelty to the animals. There are roughly 3500 captive elephants. Many elephants are well cared for by their mahouts to whom they represent a good way of making a living. However, some are not well treated. There is a campaign currently to try and stop the elephant rides at the Amber Fort, Jairpur where elephants carry tourists up to the fort all day along rough roads. The elephants of Kazaringa N.P. are owned by the Forestry commission and as far as I could see in 2015 and from recent reports, are well cared for. They do a variety of jobs, ranging from anti poaching patrols, to forestry work and driving tigers back from farmland to the reserve. To me, Kazaringa represents a good model of animal welfare and is an example of what all elephant owners should aspire to. It also serves as an example of what standards tourists should demand if they want an elephant ride whilst in India or South East Asia on holiday.
