Arunthavaselvan was only in his teens when he had a spine-chilling, hair’s breadth escape from a herd of wild elephants. The city-based wildlife photographer, who is 72 years old now, says that the scene of his running for life amid the jumbos is still indelible in his memories.
Arunthavaselvan was only in his teens when he had a spine-chilling, hair’s breadth escape from a herd of wild elephants. The city-based wildlife photographer, who is 72 years old now, says that the scene of his running for life amid the jumbos is still indelible in his memories. The veteran wildlife photographer has captured the flora and fauna in the Western Ghats for over half a century.
The rare moments of wildlife, which he shot through his camera, are sure to tell you the interesting tales behind the birds and animals of the woods.
"I was just a school student, when I expressed my wish to Kannappan, an agriculturist and hunter in our village that I wanted to see a wild elephant” says Arunthavaselvan.
The wildlife photographer informs that hunters of those days before the enactment of The Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 had licenses for hunting in the woods.
A native of the village Thuckanaickenpalayam in the present day Erode district, Arunthavaselvan, developed his interest for wildlife by observing little animals as the hare and porcupine. Interestingly, he even once nursed a spotted deer on his farm.
“A fawn of the spotted deer once entered our village being one among a herd of sheep, as they returned after grazing in the forest. The fawn’s mother must have been away for grazing, and the little one, afraid of being attacked by any wild animal, walked with the sheep. I took the fawn and nursed it by feeding with cow’s milk. When it grew up, I gave it to the Coimbatore Corporation Zoo” recalls Arunthavaselvan.
The veteran wildlife photographer, who has escaped many a time from the attack of wild elephants, narrates a spine-chilling incident which he experienced in the forests of Thelikkal at Parambikulam.
“The guest house we stayed in the forest was un-electrified; it was raining hard and the night was filled with the trumpeting of wild elephants. The next morning, when my friends and I tried to click at a wild elephant that came to drink water in the nearby river, it began to chase us. We ran and ran in the woods until we were gasping for breath and stopped at a point. But, there stood a herd of around twelve elephants at a little distance in front of us. We felt that we were in the grip of danger between the chasing solitary elephant and the herd of jumbos. Vanarajan, a tribal man, who was with us, raised a cry for some reason and the elephants in the herd moved a little away from each other. And we took to our heals in the gaps between the jumbos”
Minutes after the escape, Arunthavaselvan narrated this nightmare to a forest official, who was a Keralite.
The official just told him in his Malayalam accent:
“Yours was a hair’s breadth escape. And it was all due to the grace of Lord Guruvayurappan”
The rare moments of wildlife, which he shot through his camera, are sure to tell you the interesting tales behind the birds and animals of the woods.
"I was just a school student, when I expressed my wish to Kannappan, an agriculturist and hunter in our village that I wanted to see a wild elephant” says Arunthavaselvan.
The wildlife photographer informs that hunters of those days before the enactment of The Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 had licenses for hunting in the woods.
A native of the village Thuckanaickenpalayam in the present day Erode district, Arunthavaselvan, developed his interest for wildlife by observing little animals as the hare and porcupine. Interestingly, he even once nursed a spotted deer on his farm.
“A fawn of the spotted deer once entered our village being one among a herd of sheep, as they returned after grazing in the forest. The fawn’s mother must have been away for grazing, and the little one, afraid of being attacked by any wild animal, walked with the sheep. I took the fawn and nursed it by feeding with cow’s milk. When it grew up, I gave it to the Coimbatore Corporation Zoo” recalls Arunthavaselvan.
The veteran wildlife photographer, who has escaped many a time from the attack of wild elephants, narrates a spine-chilling incident which he experienced in the forests of Thelikkal at Parambikulam.
“The guest house we stayed in the forest was un-electrified; it was raining hard and the night was filled with the trumpeting of wild elephants. The next morning, when my friends and I tried to click at a wild elephant that came to drink water in the nearby river, it began to chase us. We ran and ran in the woods until we were gasping for breath and stopped at a point. But, there stood a herd of around twelve elephants at a little distance in front of us. We felt that we were in the grip of danger between the chasing solitary elephant and the herd of jumbos. Vanarajan, a tribal man, who was with us, raised a cry for some reason and the elephants in the herd moved a little away from each other. And we took to our heals in the gaps between the jumbos”
Minutes after the escape, Arunthavaselvan narrated this nightmare to a forest official, who was a Keralite.
The official just told him in his Malayalam accent:
“Yours was a hair’s breadth escape. And it was all due to the grace of Lord Guruvayurappan”