Description
Book Synopsis" Dramatic, moving, and packed with fascinating elephant facts, young readers will find inspiration and excitement on every page.” —Sy Montgomery, author of The Soul of an Octopus and Kakapo Rescue
The true story of the last viable Asian elephant population and the man dedicated to saving them.
Early on a January morning in 2015, a young bull elephant touched on a sagging electric line in the Paneri Tea Plantation in the Udalgari District of Assam, India. The elephant’s soft-padded feet conducted the current and the animal fell, kicking in the mud. The local veterinarian called to the scene thought the tusker was going to die.
The forest department warden called the one person who could help: Dr. Kushal Konwar Sarma, India’s beloved elephant doctor.
The Elephant Doctor of India brings the middle-grade reader into the heart of Assam, a remote land of tea plantations, paddy fields, and ancient forests, to tell the true story of the last viable population of Asian elephants and one man who is dedicated to saving them.
Brings Dr. Sarma’s incredible story—and the lives of these magnificent animals—to readers in classrooms everywhere.
Table of Contents1 Lakshmi, 1969
2 Captive Elephants in India: Mom, Can I Have a Pet Elephant?
3 Elephant School, 1976–1994
4 Manik, 1994
5 Musth Madness: It’s All About the Ladies
6 Govind Singh, 2001
7 Communication: My, What Big Ears You Have
8 Lokhimai, 2002
9 What Does Tea Have to Do with Elephants?
10 The Wild Bull of Paneri Tea Estate, 2012
11 Matriarchs and Memory: Listen to Your Elders
12 Manimala, Alaka, and Shankar, 2015
13 An Old Friend, 2016
Afterword: Saving Elephants
A Letter from Dr. Sarma
Author’s Note
Facts About Asian Elephants
Glossary
