By The Ranks Or Single File Over Every Jungle Mile

January 9, 2013

Twins!

A tusker.

Oh, hello there.

River crossing.

Elephant Dung Paper Production Enterprise

Manufacturing process.

Crocs sunbathing.

Better than trying to caulk and float across.

A man in a canoe.

Warthogs.

A one-horned rhino, recently injured.

Elephant close-up.

We walked from our resort to the Elephant Breeding Center. For Rs. 50 you have free range over the grounds of the EBC and access to a little museum with some information about the biology of elephants, how to care for them, and their relationship with their mahouts and humans more broadly. Of course, the main attraction is being able to see the elephants!

A year or two before our visit a pair of elephant twins were born, which is quite rare. They were curious and friendly, and unchained, unlike the rest of the elephants. They came right up to the fence to interact!

The larger elephants were chained to posts that were planted in the ground. Many of them were rocking back and forth and exhibiting other behaviors that, were a human doing them, would indicate psychological disstress, which is quite upsetting. However, we did see the mahouts take them their mounts into the jungle, and were told that they would not be back for many hours, so at least the elephants are getting some time to exercise and explore.

On the way back we stopped at a factory where they make paper goods from elephant dung, which is a plentiful and renewable natural resource. They make a slurry with water and then pour that slurry over framed grates. A day drying in the sun and the sheets are ready to be cut and processed.

In the afternoon we went on an elephant ride through the jungle. We saw a rhino up-close and some other animals. Rhinos typically flee when they smell humans but the elephant scent is strong enough to cover up the scent of the riders.

Chitwan National Park, Nepal.

January 9, 2013

By The Ranks Or Single File Over Every Jungle Mile - January 9, 2013 - {"name"=>"Evan Berkowitz", "twitter"=>"evanberkowitz", "email"=>"evan@evanberkowitz.com", "phone"=>"+1 917-692-5685", "inspire"=>"https://inspirehep.net/authors/1078474", "arxiv"=>"http://arxiv.org/a/berkowitz_e_1", "github"=>"http://github.com/evanberkowitz", "linkedin"=>"https://www.linkedin.com/in/evanberkowitz", "google_scholar"=>"https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=hEy9k60AAAAJ", "orcid"=>"http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1082-1374", "research_gate"=>"https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Evan_Berkowitz"}