Each day hundreds of people and thousands of livestock go into elephant habitats for firewood or grazing. This has put elephant habitats under enormous pressure and because of the trampling and cutting, many important elephant food plants are showing signs of dying and lack of regeneration. Weedy plants like lantana and parthenium are proliferating instead of elephant food plants like grasses and trees. Elephants love drinking clean water but livestock using their habitats muddy the water by wallowing in it and making it unfit for drinking. This forces elephants to wander widely in search of water during the dry season.
Yet, one can see the look of wisdom and patience, when looking into the eyes of a 50+ year old elephant like Tipu Sultan. He was there before many of us were born and grew up when most of the areas were sparsely populated and undisturbed. In spite of all the degradation and disruption of his home, he is one of the most gentle elephants in the study area, never losing his majestic dignity while being observed during a 3-year study. Young bulls like Amrit (10-13 years old) were born and live currently in highly degraded habitats. You can see him standing shoulder deep in exotic weeds like lantana camara in Rajaji National Park. Amitab (below right) drinks from one of the few waterholes during summer. Note the tree in the back ground; the branches have been cut off as fodder for the cattle.
