[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by ankan.m.blr

Is there any recent news of elephant attack in Bandipur / Mudumalai / Masinagudi? I am scheduled to stay inside Mudumalai in TN Govt guest house for 2 nights next week. I came across some Youtube videos of elephant attack in Bandipur. That really scared me a lot. Esp since I'll spending the nights in Theppakadu. I have visited the place once before but thankfully did not check the Youtube videos :P Ignorance is bliss! Now my family is really scared, even to the point of not willing to go.

I don't think there should be any reason to worry. Just don't wander outside the guest house at night unless accompanied by forest dept personnel. You should be fine. Unless you are going on trek/hike, you don't have to worry . Just go for the trip and enjoy the night in the forest. It will be lovely.

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by ankan.m.blr

Is there any recent news of elephant attack in Bandipur / Mudumalai / Masinagudi? I am scheduled to stay inside Mudumalai in TN Govt guest house for 2 nights next week. I came across some Youtube videos of elephant attack in Bandipur. That really scared me a lot. Esp since I'll spending the nights in Theppakadu. I have visited the place once before but thankfully did not check the Youtube videos :P Ignorance is bliss! Now my family is really scared, even to the point of not willing to go.

After reading your post, I called up my contact in the forest office and checked regarding the same. No elephants reported.

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

I don't think there should be any reason to worry. Just don't wander outside the guest house at night unless accompanied by forest dept personnel. You should be fine. Unless you are going on trek/hike, you don't have to worry . Just go for the trip and enjoy the night in the forest. It will be lovely.

There is nothing to worry about and enjoy your stay. In addition to the above, here are my thoughts.

Do not get stop and get out of the vehicle while driving through the forest reserve even if you want to do so. The situation can turn ugly in a few seconds if there are tuskers around.

Do not venture into the forest without proper permission and a forest dept personnel.

Be safe, respect the environment and simply enjoy madi

[nilanjanray]

Great tips from Dhanush and Maddy.

I drive regularly through those forests and often in the night just before the gate closes at 9pm when I am on my way to Masinagudi. Be aware, be silent and be prepared. Elephants are often beside the road but they don't bother anyone 95% of the time. Avoid night driving unless you are familiar with how to deal with animals - what to do and what not to do. Worst case, wait for a couple of big buses/ trucks and follow them to cross that stretch. I actually enjoy and prefer night drives through the forest wherever permitted.

Single male elephants and herds with calfs (or mom with baby) can be dangerous if you cross their comfort zone or irritate them badly.

I personally would never go on a jungle hike in elephant country with family (single/guys' group is a different thing) - even with a forest guard as a guide. Too risky imo - not worth it given that elephants there (foothills of Nilgiri Biosphere) are more belligerent towards humans on foot than usual.

[ankan.m.blr]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

I don't think there should be any reason to worry. Just don't wander outside the guest house at night unless accompanied by forest dept personnel. You should be fine. Unless you are going on trek/hike, you don't have to worry . Just go for the trip and enjoy the night in the forest. It will be lovely.

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

After reading your post, I called up my contact in the forest office and checked regarding the same. No elephants reported.



There is nothing to worry about and enjoy your stay. In addition to the above, here are my thoughts.

Do not get stop and get out of the vehicle while driving through the forest reserve even if you want to do so. The situation can turn ugly in a few seconds if there are tuskers around.

Do not venture into the forest without proper permission and a forest dept personnel.

Be safe, respect the environment and simply enjoy madi

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

Great tips from Dhanush and Maddy.

I drive regularly through those forests and often in the night just before the gate closes at 9pm when I am on my way to Masinagudi. Be aware, be silent and be prepared. Elephants are often beside the road but they don't bother anyone 95% of the time. Avoid night driving unless you are familiar with how to deal with animals - what to do and what not to do. Worst case, wait for a couple of big buses/ trucks and follow them to cross that stretch. I actually enjoy and prefer night drives through the forest wherever permitted.

Single male elephants and herds with calfs (or mom with baby) can be dangerous if you cross their comfort zone or irritate them badly.

I personally would never go on a jungle hike in elephant country with family (single/guys' group is a different thing) - even with a forest guard as a guide. Too risky imo - not worth it given that elephants there (foothills of Nilgiri Biosphere) are more belligerent towards humans on foot than usual.

One question to the experts : while driving through the forest, if I see elephants blocking the road or standing on the road; then what should I do ? Should I drive very fast and cross that stretch? Should I come to a complete halt on the road and pray the elephants do no harm to us? Should I reverse my car and wait far from the elephants?

PS :- I would be driving mostly in daytime inside Bandipur / Mudumalai

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by ankan.m.blr

One question to the experts : while driving through the forest, if I see elephants blocking the road or standing on the road; then what should I do ? Should I drive very fast and cross that stretch? Should I come to a complete halt on the road and pray the elephants do no harm to us? Should I reverse my car and wait far from the elephants?

PS :- I would be driving mostly in daytime inside Bandipur / Mudumalai

If you see the elephants on the road, my suggestion would be to wait at a safe distance for the gentle giants to move out of the road. Do not switch off your car, do not honk, do not flash lights and do not get out the car. Remember you are in their land.

If you see them by side of the road, wait for a heavy vehicle and pass along with it.

If its during day time beyond 11 am, you should not encounter the elephants by the side of the road. Though you cannot predict accurately.

Also the day time traffic of buses and lorries ensures the elephants move into the forest.

[Ketan]

Some good tips in the thread. The stretch from Bandipur to Masinagudi via Theppakadu is my favorite forest stretch, had been riding there a couple of times and a many times driving thru that area, we have come across elephants multiple times but never had any mock charges. The stretch between Bandipur office and KA-TN border gate (or till Theppakadu) looks to be more frequented by animals. We have seen leopards crossing twice, the last was on January 2 this year early in the morning.

The incident looks to be a mugging attempt to me, good that your friend didn't stop, based on what I have heard so far, once caught elephants trample the body badly and almost impossible that it will leave the human until they kill it and even beyond that.

I remember that tiger image with bikers on the road, should just be ok (unless its Sundarbans) or even any other big cats in our forests, one should just pray that they don't encounter elephants and sloth bears in the wild, these two things are the most dangerous in our Indian forest and you should avoid them totally. Tusker (male) in musth is generally abandoned by the heard and is extremely dangerous, next would be a mother with calf. I have seen TN folks getting down the car and teasing elephants a few times, reported to the gate folks but they don't seem to have control at such a low level incidents. I'm in favor of closing the gates early, wish we can have their company on our earth for some more time!

[ad3952n]

Folks! I don't really know whether to call it funny or not but a approx 7000Kg African Elephant used the VW Polo as it's itch reliever. However, none of the car's occupants suffered.

The VW Polo however suffered a lot of damage in terms of broken chasis, dented roof et al.

Elephants are generally known to use logs, small trees or rocks to scratch themselves or get rid of parasites, however, this male tusker found the Polo far more convenient!

Link: https://www.facebook.com/IndianAutosBlog

Thanks

[drmohitg]

OMG. Where did this take place. Please tell me it is photoshopped. How did the Polo land up in such a scenario? If this really took place then the occupants of that car are really lucky to be alive. A single act of rage by the tusker would have killed them there and then.

[Gannu_1]

Originally Posted by drmohitg

Where did this take place.

Pilanesburg National Park in South Africa. Mirror UK

That elephant was in its musth period. Reproductive hormones at its best levels. Wrong place, wrong time, wrong car. Glad the two occupants got out alive!

Here's another one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enzsujSTeBo

That's a Polo (6N?) too!

[ajaypjayaraj]

Yep that's another Polo. A 9N3. This one looks bad. Not just brushing against the car like the 1st incident but really attacking it and toppled.

[Octane_Power]

Originally Posted by ad3952n

The VW Polo however suffered a lot of damage in terms of broken chasis, dented roof et al.

African elephants are humongous, its a fact. When we can see how puny a hatch looks in front of them, its quite scary! It could have easily turned the car turtle by lifting it from underneath using its trunk.

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Pilanesburg National Park in South Africa.

That elephant was in its musth period. Reproductive hormones at its best levels.

Bingo Sir! They are at their wildest during that time. 1 thing though. In the video, the Polo driver had ample time to speed off. The elephant was standing away from the car for quite some time (on it's left side) before it came close to it.

I wonder why he didn't drive away, or he was enjoying the wild elephant's close proximity and didn't know what was in store for him.

-Bhargav

[SS-Traveller]

Link to the original article from Daily Mail:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...an-safari.html

[ad3952n]

Folks! It appears that Elephants in South Africa's safari parks have a instant liking towards VW. Having seen above another incident involving a Polo, I would like to share one more. A brother-sister duo were caught frightened when a 6000kg tusker developed instant curiosity for their VW (Golf in this case) and tried inspecting it with his trunk for 6 minutes and then leaving the car with a dented roof.



Link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-car-roof.html

Thanks

[trek]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Here's another one:

That's a Polo (6N?) too!

In this video, the car driver is clearly at fault for provoking the elephant. The animal showed enough signs of being uncomfortable with the presence of the car and yet the driver did not back off. He continued to drive towards the aggravated elephant and had to pay a dear price for the stupidity.

[rjstyles69]

How dumb and insensible can people get ? Full story here : http://www.bangaloremirror.com/news/...w/47434838.cms