On this special day, I would like to thank Bhunte and his family for letting me to appreciate them. I do not claim that I have understood everything about elephants- but just a bit and I will be continuing to understand more. I may be slow in learning or understanding, but my passion will always pat me to persevere. Keeping science aside, what always drags me closer to elephants is the bond they share. Especially, the mother-calf relation. This is where our Bhunte came into existence.

Of 22 months of carrying Bhunte, tackling lots of changes happening within her and in her habitat, and giving birth to the most beautiful creature on the earth, Bhunte’s mother deserves an accolade. Protecting the growing Bhunte from big cats, from getting stuck in the ditches and from the electric wires hanging low between the forests, she also deserves a safe home. Bhunte (a baby elephant) is always Bhunte (a baby) to his mother!

During my field days, I was contented to observe how mischievous a baby elephant can be when around his/her mother. Playing with its trunk, throwing the dried dung piles, chasing the common mynas, skidding over the fresh dung- And a vigilant mother keeping a watch on her calf. We are wrong if we call an elephant ‘rogue’! Perhaps, our outlook is!

Her calf is the world to her and she can go to any extent to protect them. Risking herself to pull a calf from a muddy ditch, charging the crowds of humans, getting shocks, fighting the fierce cats, and staying close to her injured child- an elephant mother is an epitome of motherhood.

When these elephants die, it is painful for surviving individuals, either for a mother or for a calf. We have not yet mastered quantifying the elephantine emotions, but it is clear that they feel the loss. When we are aiming to achieve a higher understanding of how elephants may react to mega changes- we ignore their subtle behaviours. To each of you, who will be reading this post I have no take-home messages. Just an expression of gratitude that we are the most lucky generation to behold these most beautiful animals in the lush green forests! Hope you got a hint.

Wishing each of the elephants…

Sanjeeta Sharma Pokharel

A creator of Bhunte.