Kumar
I asked this elephant question to a forest guard in Dolma Elephant Sanctuary. What am I supposed to do if I find a bull staring at me, trunk swinging, blocking my road. He said, this chance is fairly remote but if it is indeed just one elephant, most likely it is a lone old bull that has been driven out by a new Romeo. Recognise that it is a dangerous animal. You stop the vehicle, rev gently for the grrrrr sound and just pray it will go. In a worst case scenario back out gently. Never ever feel tempted to blow the horn.
I said but no matter how much I rev my petrol car it will hardly make any sound?!? He said very innocently - then sir, I don't really know what to do!!
The elephant incident that you recounted is something that happened to a friend in the same forest. He was slightly more unlucky. He crashed into the elephant with a scooter, fell off and got flung off. The animal crushed the scooter. He survived because he got thrown away and he had the helmet on.
Talking about wild animals in forests and crashing into them, day before yesterday a Royal Bengal Tiger was crushed by a train in that same forest.
Sudipto |