New book on elephants by Dr Jacob V Cheeran

Elephants are wonderful creatures. Man spends hours watching it and never gets bored. Something fascinating comes up every other second. Nobody could tell us enough on elephants too. No studies could bring out the mysteries looming over these great creations of God. 

We had Hasti ayurveda and Mathangaleela in Indian literature, often considered as the best repository of knowledge on elephants.  We have coffee- table books to reference texts on elephants.While Karl Groning and Martin Seller narrated the cultural and natural history of elephants in their book on elephants, Healthcote Williams gave us enough info and facts in ‘Sacred Elephant’. Mark Shand’s ‘Travels on My Elephant’ gave us a touchy tale of the 1000 kilometre journey on his elephant Tara in India. Dr KC Panicker shared with us his vast knowledge on this great animal in his Malayalam book ‘Aana’.

People often wondered why Dr Jacob V Cheeran, the renowned elephant specialist hesitated to narrate his decades long experiences so far.  Dr Jacob V Cheeran is adored and revered for his deep knowledge during his thirty five year career as a teacher. He was the Professor and Head of the Departments of Pharmacology & Toxicology in Veterinary College and Wildlife Sciences at Forestry College. He was the pioneer in tranquilization of elephants and radio collaring of wild animals. He has over 34 publications to his credit and attended more than 41 national and international seminars. (E-mail: jacob@cheerans.com)

His knowledge and experience are reflected in his recently released book on elephants “Aana” in Malayalam published by H&C Books. The first part of the book is on the scientific aspects of the elephant. He also describes us on the history of elephants, types and anatomical specialities. The common reader (leave alone the zoologists and veterinarians) is exposed to the differences between Asian & African elephants and details on the elephant trunk, tusks, teeth, brain, communication, movements, musth, lactation and almost everything he always wanted to know. The narration is so simple that it is well appreciated by the students to the scientists. The history of darting guns, tranquilization, micro-chips etc. is well narrated in this book.

The funny facts and tales on elephants find a place in this book. One can read on the stories of the elephants as ‘Jumbo’ of London to ‘Raja’ of Sri Lanka and ‘Ahmed’ of Kenya. One can also read on the witty stories of the drunkard elephant, the elephants that dig wells and paint great pictures. We are told on the way people worship, adore or exploit elephants in this small but informative book.

The sketches and illustrations on the anatomy, viscera, reproductive organs as well as the historical mammoth, war elephants, painter elephants add the usefulness of the book. The annexure give you the anatomical & physiological data, the elephant population in different countries, elephant reserves of Kerala, census data on Indian elephants.

Priced at Rs. 80.00, this book can be had from the leading book sellers or from the publishers. (mail@handcbooks.com)