‘Michael Phelps of jumbos’: E-5 stuns forest officials, swims nearly 10km
A radio-collared elephant named E-5 has stunned forest officials in Madhya Pradesh by swimming nearly 10 kilometers across the deep waters of the Bansagar reservoir. The tusker, which had previously been involved in human-wildlife conflict, is now being tracked as it moves toward a tiger reserve.
Why it matters
The incident highlights unusual wildlife behavior and the ongoing challenges of managing human-elephant conflict in protected forest regions.
Bhopal: Forest officials of Madhya Pradesh are thrilled to have found one Michael Phelps of a jumbo who loves to swim long distances with ease and finesse that has taken them by surprise. Swimmer jumbo E-5 has pulled off a feat unusual even for an elephant, swimming 9.43km through the still, deep waters of Bansagar backwaters, almost the distance of a 10km marathon swim. The radio-collared tusker, which had entered Maihar 22 days ago after swimming across the reservoir, has now made the return journey the same way, charting a route that has left forest officials learning from the animal.E-5 entered the backwaters from Singhpur Barondha in Maihar on Monday night and swam towards an island, and after spending some time there, it resumed its journey and reached Jamni village in Beohari, Shahdol, on Tuesday morning, covering 9.43km in water in all.What makes the feat remarkable is the nature of…
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