The elephant is the crowning glory of the jungles. This impressive creature graces our festivals, as well as religious and national functions. Tame and trained elephants are very useful to humans as they carry out their tasks with an amazing degree of understanding, though wild elephants can, at times, pose a serious problem. This book familiarises us with the one-horned Ganesha, the elephant in state of musth, the elephant with large tusks, the rogue elephant, and others. The Indian government launched a scheme in 1991-92 under forests were reserved as national parks and sanctuaries to protect the animal from depleting in number.

Ramesh Bedi (late), bom at Kalabagh (now in Pakistan), had his education as a resident of the jungle-based Gurukul Kangri University where he loved walking and studying wild animals. The elephant, Lord of the Jungle, held a particular fascination for him. After completing his education he returned to Lahore but the partition of the country in 1947, forced him to seek refuge at Haridwar. Here he studied the elephant in its many moods-in a state of musth, engaged in battle with another to win the favour of a female elephant, mating, trumpeting or stamping through the valley.

Ramesh Bedi and his photographer sons, Naresh and Rajesh, had to trudge in forests and face innumerable diffculties in order to observe elephants at close quarters and take photographs appropriate to the text.

The author's grateful thanks are due to Shri Vinod Rishi, L.F.S., for his useful suggestions.

**Contents and Sample Pages**