Wild dogs flee as a herd of trumpeting elephants charge towards them to protect their calves

A herd of elephants have been captured fiercely protecting their young from a pack of wild dogs in South Africa.

Guide Brent Leo-Smith came across the stand-off in Djuma Private Game Reserve in the Sabi Sands, the north-east of the country.

The tour guide slowly follows the wild dogs from behind in a vehicle.

The dogs are heading down a path when suddenly the elephants appear from the bushes.

The nine dogs are outnumbered by their colossal opponents who start to roar and intimidate them.

The elephants group together and stand their ground as the dogs flee one by one.

Even the young calf charges with the elephants who then form a protective ring around the more vulnerable animal.

Elephants notoriously hate predators and were really not happy about the wild dogs being in their space.

Dogs hunt in packs but according to the tour guide, they are unlikely to kill elephants.

Mr Leo-Smith said: 'Wild dogs don't show any actual potential threat to the elephants, I've never heard of a wild dog attacking a baby elephant.

'But elephants react really negatively to any predator.'

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NGO initiates campaign to rescue baby elephant Suman held in captivity

Wildlife SOS, an NGO involved with rescue and rehabilitation of animals in distress, have launched a petition to raise awareness about illegal elephant trafficking in India. The NGO is pushing for the rescue of Suman, a six-year-old elephant who has been isolated from his family and is allegedly being held illegally in Jaipur.

“The Rajasthan Forest Department has been informed of the above situation by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, yet no action has been taken to seize ‘Suman’ or arrest the persons keeping her in illegal custody,” the NGO said in its release. Elephants are protected under Schedule I of Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and are the Heritage Animals of India. The illegal sale and trafficking of Elephants is a cognizable offence and punishable by up to seven years of imprisonment.

Adding that the elephant was purchased illegally from a circus in Maharashtra by Sameer ‘Ballu’ Khan, the NGO claims that Suman is being trained using brutal techniques and is living a life of constant fear, trauma and pain.

“As a baby elephant, Suman is faced with an uncertain future – either 50 years of abuse, beatings, neglect and fear or 50 years of safety, kindness, veterinary care and love from people and other elephants at the Wildlife SOS Elephant rescue centre. Her fate lies in our hands,” Geeta Seshamani, Co-founder of Wildlife SOS said.

“Keeping six-year-old Suman locked up and not allowing her to be in bodily contact with her mother and family members is a crime. The only motto of the owner appears to be earning money from tourism in Jaipur and proper upkeep is lacking in handling the elephants. The cruelty is noticed in Suman’s upkeep,” BK Singh, retired Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Head of the Forest Force) Karnataka said. He also appealed to the Forest Department to take action against the trafficking and shift Suman to the Elephant rescue Center in Mathura.

Elaborating on the campaign, Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder & CEO Wildlife SOS said, “Several elephants are living this life in India but they remain hidden and suffer from an illegal existence. We are reaching out to our supporters and elephant lovers across the world to stand strong for Suman and ensure her future is safe with us and that she is reunited with her sister, Peanut.”


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Rajasthan government slammed for failing to take action against owner who tortured baby elephant

NEW DELHI: Animal rights activists claimed that Rajasthan government has failed to take any action against owner of a baby elephant for torturing her despite 350,000 people sending written complaints to the state authorities.

Wildlife SOS, an animal welfare organization, recently launched a global campaign to draw attention to this young elephant’s plight and wrote to the Chief Wildlife Warden & Forest minister of Rajasthan to take strict action against the offenders.

“Baby elephant ‘Suman’ is in serious trauma and continuously bobbing her head in distress. This stereotypic behaviour indicates the harsh conditions she is kept in. Ignoring this legitimizes poaching elephants from the wild for captivity. Elephants are India’s heritage animal and protected under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. Illegal sale, purchase, possession and trafficking of elephants is a non bailable offence punishable with upto 7 year jail sentence,” said the NGO in a statement.

The NGO said that the owner punished for his crimes and all his elephants must be seized and rescued from their pathetic plight.

“It is not only Suman but her father, mother both have been captive in Jaipur. All three elephants were purchased illegally by offender from Moonlight Circus and brought to Rajasthan without proper documents as mandated by law under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. This in itself is a serious and punishable offence,” said the statement.


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Kerala: Stranded elephant calf’s mother found dead

IDUKKI: A day after the wild elephant calf got separated from its herd at Chinnakkanal near Munnar, the mother elephant of the calf was found dead at Marappalam near Chinnakkanal on Thursday.


It was on Tuesday that a five-month-old baby elephant reached Chinnakkanal town. It roamed the town and later the forest officials put it in a temporary cage.


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Heartbreaking moment terrified baby elephant cries in the street after becoming separated from its dying mother

This is the sad moment a wild elephant calf took its first trembling steps to a safe shelter in India after it was separated from its dying mother.

The five-month-old was found crying and wandering around a coffee plantation in Chinnakanal town near Munnar in Kerala.

When locals found it, the young animal seemed to be frightened of the unfamiliar surroundings.

A team of forest officials ascertained that there was a herd of six elephants including two calves located a kilometre away.

However, when the officers took the calf to the herd to 'reunite' them, they did not accept it - and the calf didn't appear to recognise the herd either.

The baby elephant was placed in a safe cage as rangers patiently waited for its mother. But when she did not turn up, a patrol was sent out to find her.

It was then that they stumbled upon the carcass of its lactating mother.

Nibu Kiran, Devikulam Range Office said: 'My team of officials were informed about the calf on Tuesday. They reached the spot, rescued the elephant and placed it in a temporary holding cage. It was fed liquids.

'We waited for its mother and tried to identify the herd that the calf belongs to and reunite them. Two separate elephant herds were roaming in the area and we tried to ascertain if it belonged to any one of them.

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NGO campaigns to rescue elephant calf in captivity

Suman, a six-year-old female elephant calf, is a victim of illegal wildlife trafficking held captive in Jaipur, which non-government organisation Wildlife SOS is trying to rescue. “The Rajasthan Forest Department has been informed of the above situation by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, yet no action has been taken to rescue Suman or arrest the persons keeping her in illegal custody,” noted a release issued by the group.

In captivity

Wildlife SOS, an Indian conservation non-profit group has launched a campaign on https://bit.ly/2IA3jwa to raise awareness about the elephant trafficking and bring to light Suman’s plight which is reflective of so many other elephants in captivity across India.

Geeta Seshamani, co-founder of Wildlife SOS, said, “As a baby elephant, Suman is faced with an uncertain future — either 50 years of abuse, beatings, neglect and fear or 50 years of safety, kindness, veterinary care and love from people and other elephants at the Wildlife SOS Elephant rescue centre. Her fate lies in our hands!”

Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder & CEO Wildlife SOS, said,“Suman is a helpless elephant calf separated from her mother. There are other calves that suffer a similar fate like her. Until now she has had no one to fight for her. Several elephants are living this life in India. Such cases remain unknown. We are reaching out to our supporters and elephant lovers across the world to stand up for Suman and ensure her future is safe with us, and that she is reunited with her sister, Peanut.”

B.K. Singh (retd) Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Head of the Forest Force) Karnataka said, “Keeping six-year-old Suman locked up and not allowing her to be with her mother and family members is a crime. The only aim of the owner appears to be earning money from tourism in Jaipur. Proper upkeep is lacking in handling the elephants.”


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Bollywood backs baby elephant – The Hindu

Abuse alleged

“Suman’s owners have isolated her from her family and are keeping her chained in a small, dank room for ‘training’ using brutal techniques — in effect, day-by-day, her spirit is being broken. Suman is the biological sister of 8-year-old Peanut, who was rescued from the Moonlight Circus by Wildlife SOS in 2015. Currently, their father, the male tusker Bijli, is being rented out in festivals, weddings and processions, and mother Chanda is used for rides at the Amer Fort in Jaipur as well as for breeding,” noted a release issued by Wildlife SOS.

Within 72 hours of the launch of the campaign, the Wildlife SOS-run petition garnered over 50,000 signatories.

Actor Sidharth Malhotra, who recently visited the the NGO’s Elephant Conservation and Care Centre in Mathura, tweeted: “Suman, a 6-year-old baby elephant, was torn away from her family and is being abused and held illegally in captivity in Jaipur! This is unacceptable and inhuman.”

Other Bollywood A-list celebrities such as Karan Johar, Tiger Shroff, Vivek Oberoi, Pulkit Samrat, Anushka Manchanda, Ramona Arena and Harshvardhan Rane joined in by posting on their respective social media accounts. Indian cricketers Yusuf Pathan, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Harbajan Singh and wife Geeta Basra, also supported the Wildlife SOS campaign. The hashtag #SaveSuman began trending on Twitter.


Influencing change

Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder and CEO of Wildlife SOS, said, “We are grateful to all the celebrities who have expressed their support and have drawn attention to Suman’s plight. It is heart-warming to see the celebrities using their influential status to bring about a change in our social attitudes. The exploitation of elephants for labour and human entertainment is a monumental problem.”


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Elephant hit by train, dies

An elephant died after being hit by a train at Rajaji Tiger Reserve on Tuesday.

This is the second such accident on the track in the state this month. On March 11, an elephant was hit by a train in Lalkuan, Haridwar district. A baby elephant too was run over by a train on the same track on February 17. It is learnt that the Nandadevi Express that runs between Delhi and Dehradun was returning to Dehradun when at Kansro, the elephant was hit by the train. Such was the impact of the accident that it died on the very spot.


The Rajaji Tiger Reserve and railway authorities have been at loggerhead over such incidents. The wildlife authorities have called for limiting the speed of trains on this particular stretch.

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