Grand, glacial and genial, the nature of elephants largely captures the essence of nature. Popular discourse holds that elephants tend to look at humans the same way we, look at puppy dogs. That’s a beautiful thought – the largest mammal of the jungle wanting to squish you! But that is also where its wilderness and actual power comes into play. Despite Dumbo being your favourite Disney movie and how adorable its inspiration may look in real life, elephants have never been categorised as ‘harmless’. They are very capable of being gentle and forming close bonds with human over time but how they actually react depends on past experiences and individual leanings. Their default setting is calmer than several other jungle predators, but they tend to resort to using their might to attack, when they feel scared, mad or even protective.

The latter is the essence then, of why this perfectly beautiful creature and its kind needs to feel at home in this world that’s theirs too. And that is exactly what the vision was for the Singhbhum Elephant Reserve.

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Located in the Kolha region of Jharkhand, formerly the Singhbhum district, this sprawling space is the country’s first-ever designated elephant reserve. It was established and notified back in 2001 under Project Elephant. Now when we use the world ‘sprawling’ we truly mean it. Besides being the oldest elephant reserve in the country, the Singhbhum Elephant Reserve is also the largest of its kind in India, spreading across 13,440 square kilometres across the East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum, and Seraikela-Kharsawan districts. Also included within this expanse is the 4,530 square kilometres of forest area as well as the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary. The goal at hand – consistent for the past quarter of a century now – is simple: protect the wild Asian elephants and their natural corridors. The focus of the Singhbhum Elephant Reserve has for decades now, been to try and preserve the wild Asiatic elephant populations, preserve their migratory routes lower human-elephant conflict rates in local farming and mining border areas (like the series of incidents earlier this year in January) as well as manage human and livestock pressure on vital forest habitats, lists the official Government of Jharkhand website.

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If planning a visit to the Singhbhum Elephant Reserve, it’s important to know that the entirety of its 13,440 square kilometres expanse is not a single fenced park. To begin with, the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary is completely subsumed within the reserve. It’s entry point is near Jamshedpur and this part of the space is open to tourists for wildlife safaris, nature viewing as well as spotting wild elephants. The Saranda Forest on the other hand makes up the larger landscape and is the core tracking area in West Singhbum. The dense sal trees and elephant corridors making up this natural expanse is a restricted space, and can only be accessed through permits and local forest department clearances. Coming back to the sanctuary, the best time to visit is believed to be between October and March owing to the more pleasant weather conditions in the state.

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