Elephantine Memory

Sushmita Choudhury / New Delhi

March 25, 2007

Pachyderm lover-hunter-conservationist Dinesh Choudhury's life comes a full circle.

His life story is a study in paradoxes. A superstitious rationalist who believes in ESP. An engineer in the making, had his father had his way, who was happier playing car mechanic. A hunter who is a staunch conservationist. Meet Dinesh Choudhury, elephant hunter.

Yes, you read right. Choudhury is exactly that. But before you start calling up animal rights activists, let’s make it clear that this man is perfectly legal. He is actually a licensed professional hunter, one of the last few ones in the country. He is the man the government turns to when a rogue elephant has to be stopped.

“Elephants are gloriously unpredictable,” says the 61-year-old who turned “pro” in 1994, 11 years after he first independently brought down his first elephant. “I know how an elephant will react only after I have put a bullet in it.” Yet, pulling the trigger is never an easy choice for him.

“Before I shoot, I prefer to ensure for myself if the animal is a genuine rogue or not,” says Choudhury adding, “I won’t shoot an elephant that is sleeping or has not charged at me, I won’t shoot one that is just temporarily bad-tempered because of being in musth, a period associated with sexual maturity lasting about three months, or being ill or sporting an injury. And I won’t shoot a mother with a young calf.”

He has a sixth sense when it comes to elephants. Sceptics may scoff, but the forestry officials and mahouts he has ever worked alongside swear it is true, having witnessed it themselves ad nauseum.

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