Tara
Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) at
Kipling Camp in India

Biography
♀ Tara

Identification


Description

Species:Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)
Sex and age:Female ♀
Management:Free contact
Origin
Born:* unknown
Birth place:
Locations - owners
Present / last location:Kipling Camp , in India

Date of arrival

1989-00-00Kipling Camp
from Mark Shand (1951-2014)

Record history
History of updates2018-05-27

Latest document update2020-11-05 19:37:34
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Biography


Tara is a living Female ♀ Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) , located at the Kipling Camp , in India.

Tara arrived in 1989-00-00 to the Kipling Camp , relocated from the Mark Shand (1951-2014), in Italy.

In Kipling Camp , Tara lives as single living elephant at this location



Origin

Tara was born unknown .


Comments / pictures

Mark Shand, with Aditya Patankar, purchased Tara in South Orissa, and rode her to Sonepur Mela, a cattle fair in Bihar. She was later transfered to Kipling camp in Kanha National Park.



It was a long love affair with a country that ignited my passion for elephants. Fifteen years ago, I decided to write my next book about a journey across India. Purely on a whim, I decided to buy an elephant. "After all", I thought, 'what mode of transport would allow me a more wonderful insight into the magic and complexities of a land that, like its elephants, moves slowly and subtly'?

After many weeks of searching for available elephants, fate led me to my future paramour, late one monsoon night on the outskirts of a village, in the eastern state of Orissa. There standing quietly, illuminated by the glow of the campfire were three elephants.

My mouth went dry. I felt giddy, breathless. With one hind leg crossed over the other, she was leaning nonchalantly against a tree, the charms of her perfectly rounded posterior in full view, like a prostitute on a street corner. I knew then that I has to have her and I realised, with some surprise that I had fallen in love with a female Asian elephant.

Then, I had no idea what pulled me, like a magnet to her that night. I did not even notice the other two elephants. Maybe it was her eyes - gentle dark brown pools of kindness, fringed by lashes long enough to suggest they were false. Or maybe, it was the way she stretched out her Trunk and, with the utmost delicacy, explored my pockets searching for hidden goodies. Or how she squeaked with excitement, flapping her huge ears, the ends of which were splashed with the palest of pink spots, when I tentatively offered her a banana for the first time. She was in pitiful condition, scrawny and starved, her ribcage clearly visible and her skin hanging in folds, like an ill-fitting suit. She looked at that moment, exactly what she was - a beggar - a beggar with a pronounced limp due to deep-rooted ulcer caused by the wicked metal-spiked shackles the mendicants had used to hobble her. But I know that I was never in control. She chose me. It was karma.

After a series of complex negotiations she became mine. I called her Tara, which means 'star' in Hindi. Three hundred kilos of fodder each day and veterinary care soon restored Tara's health. Accompanied by an ingenuous Indian nobleman and gifted photographer called Aditya who taught me Indian ways and a drunken Mahout called Bhim who taught me elephant ways, Tara allowed me to ride her a thousand miles or so across her country. My book 'Travels on my Elephant' is the account of our adventures together.

I'm often asked how old Tara is. I refuse to answer. A gentleman should never disclose a lady's age. But I will give a clue. She is young enough to have children. I am now on quest to find the perfect husband.

Mark Shand
Reference list

References

Koehl, Dan, (2024). Tara, Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) located at Kipling Camp in India. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 29 March 2024 at https://www.elephant.se/database2.php?elephant_id=5918. (archived at the Wayback machine)


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Categories Born in India | Elephants from Kipling Camp | India | Single living | Asian elephants


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