time for an elephant bath

We have been catering nature at the smaller end of the spectrum these days. Now let us take a break and go for an elephant bath.

elephant bathing in kerala

Elephants love to take a bath, they enjoy all the scrubbing, splashing and the care given.

elephant bathing in kerala

elephant bathing in kerala

Date:  26 Sept 2007
Location: @ Kothamangalam, Ernakulam, Kerala, India
Camera: Nikon D80

Do you know that
Elephants are one of the most intelligent animals.
Elephants are self aware, could recognize themselves in the mirror.
Elephants have closely knit families/social groups.
Elephants have their own rituals if one of their family members are dead.
Elephants sometimes come back to the remains to pay homage to their ancestors.

You saw a happy series of photographs with the humans nicely interacting with the elephants. This hardly gives us an idea of the cruelties suffered by a majority of these large, intelligent creatures in the state of Kerala. Elephants are extensively used for carrying logs and for festivals in the state. For money and displaying the human pomp, the elephants go through all these:

  • Their soft feet directly comes to contact with the hot, burning, tarred roads for hours while walking from one location to another. Along with the heave chains on their feet, foot problems and wounds develop, which rarely get a chance to heal.
  • Endure the noise, the traffic, commotion, fireworks, while traveling and during festivals.
  • Cruel treatment by the mahouts. A recent article published in Kerala Kaumudi points out that around 90% of domesticated elephants in Kerala are made blind or partially blind, so that they can be easily controlled, and don’t target their mahouts when they are angry.
  • Lack of proper rest, food and treatment.

The more evolved and intelligent the being is, more is the depth of pain and sorrow.

There are rules in the state which address some of the issues stated above, but few cares! No wonder that in the recent few years mahouts have been thrown down and stamped by these otherwise gentle animals. It is time that they are at least given the proper attention they need! It is time for an elephant bath! They don’t belong to the cities; they are not a requirement for the festivals. Let us give some respect to the state animal of Kerala.

References:
1. Plotnik et al., 2009: Self-recognition in the Asian elephant and future directions for cognitive research with elephants in zoological settings, Zoo Biology, 28, 1-13 [
link].
2. Plotnik et al., 2006: Self-recognition in an Asian elephant, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 103, 17053 -17057 [
link].
3. McComb et al., 2006: African elephants show high levels of interest in the skulls and ivory of their own species, Biology Letters, 2, 26-28 [
link].
4. Wikipedia
5. PETA India

48 Responses

  1. rocksea says:

    andy, birdy, mohan, and marlin: thanks for the inputs from your side 🙂

  2. Marlin says:

    Aaah…my favorite animal..during our visit to mom’s place near Aranmula kshetram, we used to get to see so many elephants esp during the ulsavam. Their training sessions used to be great fun.

  3. Happy Kitten says:

    A very timely and apt post… have always stood in awe watching these mighty animal while thinking that they would like to be magnanimous too if only we allow them…but unfortunately we are not treating them right….. nd when they protest in their own style, we seldom think from their end do we? even we were told by the mahouts that these elephants needs to be beaten if they are to be taught to be obedient..

    • rocksea says:

      yes it is quite unfortunate, kitten. and as you told we all are usually misinformed on how to domesticate and train these majestic elephants. either the mahouts are unaware, or they are just greedy and careless… or all of those.. The mahouts and owners sure need to go some training first!

  4. Mohan says:

    Wow that is a great experience! Thanks for some nice pics and detailed post on elephant bath 🙂

    Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a comment. Look forward to see you more often 🙂

  5. birdy says:

    Interesting and beautiful pictures, but followed by some very harsh facts about their exploitation.

  6. Andy says:

    Incredible photos! Loved reading all the facts about Elephants. Really sad to hear about their mistreatments though 🙁

  7. Great photos. Love those prodigious pachyderms. Sad to hear about the blindings. These acts should be punished severely. Such cruelty should not be permitted under the garb of tradition.

  8. Deeps says:

    nice happy images of the elephants being given bath.In fact I remember going to an elephant sanctuary near Guruvayur about two years back!There were lots of elephants housed there.we werent sure how well they were looked after though.But my daughter was quite amused by the whole sight.

    But yes,its quite a sorry state of affairs for the elephants.

    • rocksea says:

      Hello Deeps, I guess they get better treatment at those elephant sanctuaries. Let us hope that all these animals survive and amuse our future daughters too…

  9. Aarathi says:

    Hi
    Very nice composition – Black Giant in the vibrant green background. Gr8 !
    Heard that Asian elephants have more IQ than their African cousins.
    Aarathi

  10. Neelima says:

    This is a nice post! Elephants are blinded at times??!! :O
    This is heights of cruelty. I never used to like tamed wild animals in towns/cities. How sad for them that they are dragged from their homes for our benefit.

  11. Jennifer says:

    HI.. Great post. Like all the tidbits of the lives of the gentle giants. We saw the elephant bathing in kodanadu.. I had videotaped it. If so inspired do see it..
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCTBCuBYCgE

  12. bindu says:

    Beautiful photos. I absolutely love elephants, and cry watching how these gentle giants are treated by humans. One of my dreams is to work to protect them and their habitat … one day.

  13. Solilo says:

    Nice capture!

    Sad the way Elephants are treated in Kerala. One thing why I never attend any utsavam.

  14. //Elephants sometimes come back to the remains to pay homage to their ancestors.//

    Really? :!

    And nice shots of the ‘neerattu’..

    • rocksea says:

      Yes! I have seen that on National Geographic. Have attached a research paper on the topic, along with the article. It is observed among the African elephants. Yet to be studied for the Asian counterparts I guess.

  15. Kanak says:

    Wonderful pictures, Rocksea. In Assam we often hear of elephants being mowed down by trains. Depletion of forests has led to many deaths as they come hunting for food near the outskirts of the city, and the railway tracks. It’s disturbing to know what these gentle beasts have to go through….thanks for writing about their plight.

    • rocksea says:

      Assam is a state much like Kerala, with similar geography, rain forests and biodiversity. I think unlike Kerala, there is a lot more kept pristine in Assam. From the information you have given, I feel sorry that the depletion of forests is at a fast rate.

  16. Abhilash says:

    Superb photgraphs, and I also feel bad when see the elephants harassed for sake of human’s work.

    I think there are laws against their misuse and harassment. What do you think, does that make any reduction to it?

    • rocksea says:

      Probably we need coaching classes for elephant owners and mahouts. It may not be easy to follow each elephant and see that the rules are kept. There are rules in our state, and if those are not violated, the elephants would be in a better situation.

  17. Its an amazing new info for me about the death rituals and paying homage part by elephants !!!!!

    People also say that Elephants have amazing eye sight !

    Brilliant and wonderful creature!

    • rocksea says:

      Rajan, the eyesight of elephants are relatively poor. Instead, they have acute sense of hearing and smell.

      A research paper dealing with elephant paying homeage to ancestors is added along with the article. I guess it has been noted among African elephants, and yet to be observed for Asian elephants. I remember seeing a documentary on the same theme, on National Geographic.

  18. Swaram says:

    Nice pics there as usual 🙂

    That treatment et.al. sad really sad 🙁

  19. bindu says:

    Is this Kodanad?
    Elephants are such amazing creatures but it is really sad to see them being exploited in such a merciless manner.
    The concept of the ‘Aanakottil’ at Guruvayoor is a good one I should say where elephants are treated like royalty – something like an elephant spa 🙂
    Talking about elephants how can I forget Jocie, my client’s daughter in the US who is crazy about elephants. Each time someone goes visiting either way, she asks for elephants in some form or other. She would have enough for a museum by now 🙂

    • rocksea says:

      This is not Kodanad, but in the same district.

      Miniature elephants are my choice of gifts as well!! I get questions like “do wild elephants come to your house?” They want to be sure before they plan any trips! haha.

  20. I’ve bathed an elephant at Dubare elephant camp, Coorg, Karnataka.. Its a nice experience.. Tamed elephants are very friendly.

  21. Beena says:

    hei.. I thought Dogs are the most intelligent animals. but alas!! NO.. Is that elephant.. (then my dog should be an exception haha)
    Nice pics..great work.
    beena

  22. the images are lovely and is a subject which i also would love to cover. nice that you have pointed out many facts about elephants and the situation of them in kerala. cheers!

  23. Elaine- says:

    How sad, I know they are lovely creatures and have seen documentaries on them, i love animals and can’t bear to hear of them being mistreated… i’m glad that the ones in the pictures are having a nice time…

    • rocksea says:

      Elaine, some of our Indian states including my state have a lot of wild elephants which are caught and domesticated and then made to go through all these sad events. There are a lot of elephant lovers and their associations also, and hopefully they will gather their strength to see that the elephants are taken care of.

  24. Mridula says:

    Thanks for sharing those sobering facts about how elephants get treated many a times.

  25. It must be a lot of job washing an elephant.

    • rocksea says:

      Yes bathing the elephant is a big job, and so is feeding it and taking care of it! But it is like any other job/investment, you get paid back for the amount of work the elephant does.

      Otherwise they can take care of all these by themselves, in the wild.

  1. September 21, 2009

    […] posts some pictures of elephants and mahouts when it is bath time. However he has a lot of sobering elephant facts in the same […]

  2. August 4, 2018

    […] 7) Bathe and feed elephants in Kerala You can bathe elephants with your bare hands and then feed them some food, you’ll see them smiling at you through their trunks, I promise. They also offer elephant rides but we wouldn’t endorse that. Carrying little humans around on their backs is not what elephants are made for, are they?COURTESY: https://www.rocksea.org/elephant-bath-kerala/ […]

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