08 April 2010

Elephant and the Rock


This male elephant was photographed at Yala. Usually the bull elephant is a loner. The herd is usually made of female elephants and calves.

There is another variation called ‘Thun path rena’ or three elephants. Some incorrectly identify them as father, mother and child. Actually it is either two female elephants and a calf or a female elephant and two calves. Of course one of the calves is bigger.

The rock far away in the picture is known as Akasa Chethiya, but the renowned name is ‘Elephant Rock' as it looks like an elephant.

29 comments:

Knatolee said...

You are bringing back very fond memories of our visit to Yala. Thank you!

Naquillity said...

kinda sad that the male elephant is a loner. the rock in the background is as impressive as your photo of the elephant. can't believe how closely nature and wildlife imitate one another. hope all is well. have a great day.

Magerata said...

Hi Kirigalpoththa, Very nice. Are people free to roam all over the park? Looks like you or the elephant on some one else' path. The elephant seems to have no problem with your presence.
The rock look pretty much like Yosemite half dome from distance. Thx.

rainfield61 said...

What a interesting facts to know.

We have a similar "Elephant Rock" in Kedah State, which is about 90km away from where I live.

Janith said...

Lovely photograph K! Love how the elephant and elephant rock are both captured in the same frame! :D

Me-shak said...

wow, truly amazing picture:D
The bull, the rock, the colors are all perfect. Great stuff!
Looking forward for more.
Cheers!

Nicole said...

That's a beautiful shot!
I didn't know the part about the males.

Diane AZ said...

Wonderful shot of the elephant and elephant rock, I love the light and shadow too.

George said...

I can understand how the rock got its name -- it does look like an elephant. Thanks for a wonderful picture.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Interesting, K, about the elephants. I never knew that the males are loners.... Hmmmm.. Thanks for sharing.
Betsy

sumedha Obeysekera said...

Beautiful capture.. If I am correct, we can see the Elephant Rock in the back ground.. it is so appropreating to the image..

Bhavesh Chhatbar said...

Nice piece of information, and good to know the rock! We have a mountain over here visible from my home. We have named it as Elephant Mountain, as it looks like an elephant!

Anonymous said...

That's so cool that you could so close to an elephant in the wild!

Kirigalpoththa said...

Knatolee ,
Great that you have been here! Glad I could bring those memories back:)

Naquillity,
It is amazing to see the rock just like an elephant looking over the jungle.

Magerata,
Yala is a national park and by its definition you are not allowed to roam as you wish. You have to accompany a guide and also you are not allowed to walk in most of the areas within the designated area of the park.
Elephant did not care about us much and did his casual walk towards the rock that looks like him. Thanks for the info about Half Dome of Yosemite.

rainfield61,
Happy to know there is a similar rock in Malaysia too. Hope you would do a post on that one day :) In fact there is a similar rock just like an elephant in Kurunegala, a town north west of Sri Lanka.

Chavie,
Yes I wanted to take a photo with both ‘elephants’ in one frame and I got that perfect occasion this time.

Me-shak,
Thanks and I shall post a few more on Yala soon :)

Nicole,
Female elephants and male elephants have very different behavior and social lives. So the leader of a herd of elephants is always a female. It is only in elephant’s world though ;)

Diane,
Thanks, it was around 8 in the morning and glad I got good lighting for this shot.

George,
It just looks like a huge elephant. I will post a closer photo of the rock soon.

Betsy,
I will try to bring more interesting stuff about the social behavior of elephants soon. Their lives are quite interesting to study.

Sumedha,
Yes, it is quite far so the rock looks very small, I’ll try to post another one that shows the rock clearer. But there are no live elephants in those pictures.

Bhavesh,
Lots of mountains like elephants all over the world! Now there are three already! I think people like elephants a lot :)

1ondoncalling,
In lot of Sri Lankan safari parks, like Yala, you can get quite close to elephants.

Thanks all for your wonderful comments!

eileeninmd said...

Love this post and the photo. Great information on the elephants. I would be happy to see the elephants in the wild. I only see them in zoo's.

Penny Says said...

love the ELEPHANT..the Asian/Indian Elephant in my opinion is way better looking than the African Elephant..niceee shot..:)

Kirigalpoththa said...

Eileen,
It is lot better to see them in the wild than in a zoo!

Penny,
African Bush Elephant is larger than his Asian cousin. Also the notable difference is that African variety has a bigger head and extremely large ears. There is third variety of elephants known as African Forest Elephant but the difference is not quite evident.

Vicente B said...

I loved that animal. Only two chances to see it. Once in Thailand and the other one of course Sri Lanka. It´s really impresive...!!! Beutiful pictures. Regards from the Mediterranean Island of Ibiza

Kirigalpoththa said...

Vicente,
Glad you saw elephants in SL. They are great animals.
I'm yet to see an African elephant in the wild...and that is one of the things I'm looking forward to.
Best wishes from Sri Lanka!

Emma said...

aww i would love to see elephants in the wild :)

Anonymous said...

I love that picture. I didn't know that about the herds. Great photo. Thanks for sharing and have a wonderful week ahead :)

Kirigalpoththa said...

Emma,
Yes they are lovely animals to see in the wild. Thanks a lot for your comments.

Thom,
It is very interesting to know about the behavior of these magnificent animals. Have a great week ahead!
Thanks a lot for your comments.

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

Do you still have wild elephants?

Kirigalpoththa said...

Ann,
Oh yes they are in the wild and we occasionally face a few issues when they barge in to villages close to the reserved areas.

Sometimes elephants roam from one reserved area to another. For that there are specified routes for them and usually they stick to the path by instinct. But times to time they move out from the path and comes to villages.

Harshi said...

This setting gives the vibes of moments before an elephant duel, between this loner and the Elephant Rock. =D Come to think of it, that Elephant Rock looks more like a giant mammoth than an elephant. O__O

The backdrop is quite stunning with all those vivid tones. Splendid capture.

Kirigalpoththa said...

Harumi,
Looks like the elephant is going to meet the rock and pay homage. :) It looks like a gigantic monument for the extinct ancestor of this jumbo.
I too like the mixture of colors.
Thanks a lot for your comments!!

Shifan said...

Hi kiri
That rock seems an elephant really. This is a fantastic photography. How you capture this photo?

Kirigalpoththa said...

Aysha,
I was in a safari jeep and we were at a touching distance from the elephant. I took this picture and managed to frame Elephant Rock also in the background.
Thanks

Shifan said...

Hi Kiri,

I also have nice experience regarding elephants. One of them I have published in my blog under (label) Tragedy of the Jaint Tusker. It was a real tragedy. I have seen wild elephants in several times very closely when I worked in Galgamuwa.Anyway living with wild animals is fantastic.