Wild Cries

                          ' When you look at elephant herds that are non-stressed, the males are never around’ -    Mark Shand, British travel writer and conservationist Asian Elephant- An epitome of charisma Of the elephants, Mahatma Gandhi once remarked ‘The elephant  needs a thousand times more food than the ant but that is not an indication of inequality’ . My understanding is that he probably wanted to reinforce the thought that Nature has placed every organism in its rightful position; so the obvious differences between a gigantic elephant and a tiny ant can’t be seen as an indicator of inequality, which men seem to have been perpetrating within humanity. True to this visionary statement, elephant remains Nature’s great masterpiece ever. Doesn’t it reflect the greatness of an animal species that has 45 name equivalents described in a poetical lexicon ( Tamil nighandu) ? It is none other than Asian elephant ( Elephas maximus ), the second largest land animal - next only

Wild Boar in Mudumalai, Tamil Nadu Introduction  This is my second blog post on Wildcries.com. My first one on the ‘Man-eater of Masinagudi-MDT 23’ drew a reasonably decent response from the viewers from different countries across the globe. Many readers posted their objective comments on the article as well. I am indebted to them. In this episode, I am taking the readers through the status of a relatively innocuous wild animal but branded as a rogue species by agriculturists, the Indian wild boar also known as Andamanese or Moupin pig (Sus scrofa cristatus). An account of the biological traits and behavioural aspects of this animal in its wild settings, practices hovering around their management in the historical time frame, escalating confrontation due to increasing wild boar-human interface, legal protection available to the species and position taken by different range States in India will make an interesting reading. Future management of the species in co-habited landscapes will s