Big herbivores!

[Wolverine]

(11-18-2017, 02:37 PM)Rishi Wrote:

(11-18-2017, 10:13 AM)Wolverine Wrote: Do you have idea why there are no wild elephants in Kanha national park? Corbett has wild elephants but doesn't have gaurs, Kanha has gaurs but doesn't have wild elephants as long as I know. Why Indian biologists do not introduce elephants in Kanha? An ideal Indian jungle should posses both elephant and tiger, Hathi and Sher Chan... as we know from "Jungle book".

Gaurs originated in the East & are still in the middle of their natural westward expansion.

Kanha & the similar landscapes haven't had elephants for many years, & it was a natural extinction. They were once found as west as Syria...
The forests became too dry about the same time Sahara started expanding about 5k years ago & Asian elephants need water more than African ones do (so.. no desert elephants). By Alexander's time their range have retreated to North-Indian plains.

Terai is a much wetter habitat with lots of most-undergrowth are important to support elephants. The eastern parts of Central India, like Orissa, Jharkhand have them. 

However, the have been recent reports of elephant here's migrating as west as Guru-Ghasidas Tiger Reserve of Chhattisgarh from the Chhotanagpur Plateau.

Also, elephants from Nilgiris have been paying visits to the Southern hills of Eastern Ghats after 200 long years of absence (Man-Elephant Conflict and Mitigation - Koundinya Wildlife Sanctuary, Andhra Pradesh).

PS: Species aren't just introduced from one forest to another just because "..An ideal Indian jungle should posses both elephant and tiger, Hathi and Sher-Khan". C'mon, be sensible...

Thank you Rishi. So basically what you want to say is that the forests of Central India currently are too dry for Asiatic elephants. Reply