Giants of the Monsoon Forest
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nagana pest, 97
Namyung River, 74, 88, 117
Nan (KIA officer), 165, 166–71, 177, 179, 185, 187, 188, 210
Naw Ko (Karen woman), 149
Naypyidaw, Burma (new capital), 175, 214–16
Neh Ong (elephant), 131–38, 143–44, 177, 216
Nepali people, 44, 158, 159
Nile River, 96
source of, 106
Nkumgam (translator), 166, 167, 177
N’mai Hka (river), 184
North Sumatra, elephant park in, 189
Numidians, 99
Nung porters, 76–77
Nyo (mahout), 146–47, 150
oozies, see mahouts
opium addiction, of elephants, 139
opium trade, 174, 180
Orwell, George, 134
Otou (mahout), 30–34, 151, 153
P. (guide), 30, 32–33, 34, 150
Pagli (elephant), 47, 48, 60, 112, 114
Pak Chan (elephant), 118–23, 124, 126, 127, 129, 143, 169, 216
Pak Ve (elephant), 119, 120
Pangsau Pass, 65, 67, 70–76, 81, 83, 88, 173, 179, 184
parades and festivals, elephants in, 35–36, 38, 95, 110, 194
Patkai Mountains, 13, 17, 55, 83, 111, 178, 180, 186, 216
Pegu (elephant), 49–50, 51, 60
Phuldot (elephant), 226
Polybius (geographer), 230
Portuguese empire, 105
Porus (or Puru), Indian king, 97, 98, 101
Po Toke (mahout), 67, 87–88
Pradip (mahout), 52–53, 192
problem-solving:
assisting passengers to mount, 52–53
balancing a log on his tusks, 59
in bridge construction, 59–60
clearing river logjams, 48–51
elephant innovation in, 58–61, 212
maneuvering up steep hills, 40–42, 50, 51
rescuing a truck stuck in mud, 44–46
river crossings, 51–54
stopping wagon with failed brakes, 108
Ptolemais Theron (hunting port), 100
Ptolemies, 100–101, 103–4, 106
Ptolemy, Claudius, 106
Putao Plain, 64, 68, 83, 158, 184
Pwa Oo (elephant), 132, 135
Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, 98–99, 101
quicksand, elephant trapped in, 123–24
Ragoo (mahout), 82
Rakhine Hills, 152
Rangoon, 64, 65. See also Yangon
river fishing, 52
Roger II, king of Sicily, 230
Roman empire:
Carthage vs., 99–100, 101–3
Christianity in, 104
Hannibal vs., 101–2, 104, 230
war elephants used by, 102–3
Royal Air Force, 90, 128
Rungdot (elephant), 78–79, 80–81, 83, 88, 90, 173, 184, 192, 216
Russell, S. Farrant, 70–76, 82, 88, 89
Muddy Exodus, 71, 125
Rwenzori Mountains, 106
Sadiya, India:
earthquake and flooding in, 194–95, 241
elephant parades in, 194
as lost elephant hub, 196
safari parks, see tourist parks
Saharan Desert, 103, 104
Sang (guide), 17–19, 25–26
Sayaboury province, Laos, 126, 129–30
Seleucid Empire, 98, 100, 104
Seleucus, General, 98
Sesta-Moti (elephant), 5, 54
shamans, 13
Shan Plateau, 130, 174
Shan State (modern), 134, 177
Shan States (historical), 64, 117
Shenam Pass, 65, 66–67, 68, 82, 87, 139–40
Sikya (mahout), 53
Singapore, 203
Singpho-Kachin people, 158, 224
Siong Gam (mahout), 81
Sissiri River, 5, 7, 51, 53, 163, 192, 193, 194, 207, 216
“sixth great extinction,” 11
smallpox, inoculation against, 105
Sokona (elephant), 27–29, 43, 159, 216
Songhai Empire, 109
South Africa, safari parks in, 109
spirit-mahouts (ghost riders), 26–29, 43, 88
Sri Lanka, 32
Stremmer, Chis, 199–200, 201–2
subspecies, use of term, 228
sugar plantations, 179
Sultan of Sulu, 204
Sumatra:
Dutch colonial rule of, 199
elephant domestication in, 199–202
elephant parks in, 201–2
patrol elephants in, 201
wild elephants in, 200
Sundaland, 204
Surus (elephant), 102
Swai-gyo (elephant), 49
Tachard, Guy, 20
Tai languages, 55, 111
Taipei Zoo, 86
Taka (mountain stream), 181
Taline (Mon) people, 236
Tanai River, 73, 178
Tanai Yang (training camp area), 179, 182
Tanganyika, 108
Taro Plain, 180, 181
Tatmadaw (Burmese army), 164–66, 170
fighting Kachin rebel army, 126, 168, 171, 172, 179, 185, 195
motorized transport of, 165
obstacles to use of elephants by, 186–87
official cease-fire of, 175–76
Tawang Hka (river), 183
teak-logging industry:
and British shipbuilding, 65
Burmese government, 12, 20–21, 51, 55, 82, 88–89, 138, 146–47, 149, 151–52, 154–55, 157, 163, 210
charcoal camps, 146–47, 155, 162
and deforestation, 156, 165, 191–92
elephants in, 3, 191–92
kheddah method of catching elephants in, 20–21
motorization of, 155
overlogging in, 133–34, 153, 155–56
problems of, 152–56, 165
wages in, 160
Tenam (mahout), 45, 47, 48, 117, 157
Tezu, construction of, 194
Thailand:
deforestation in, 141, 156
elephant movements from, 129
elephant parks in, 190, 203
elephants’ natural range in, 165
overlogging in, 155–56
Thuan (mahout), 124
Tiger Reserve, Hukawng Valley, 179, 239
Timeh (mahout), 150–52
Tirap Hills, 32, 57
Tolkien, J.R.R., 104
tourist parks, elephants in, 35, 38, 52, 61, 90, 109, 114, 115, 140, 189–92
Trans-Arunachal Highway, 214
Trans-Patkai region:
agriculture in, 36, 37
area of, x, 12–13, 142
chained elephants in, 117–23
dry vs. wet season in, 51
elephant corridors in, 142–43, 183
elephant population in, 130
elephant trade in, 55–56
ethnic groups of, 27
forest-centered coalition of, 36, 37, 130, 211
forest profitability in, 143
formation of, 17
logging camps in, 154–55
logging season in, 51
male camp environments of, 147
naming of, 13
processional stages in, 148
rebel militias in, 36; see also Kachin Independence Army
refugees in, 143
roads in, 162–63, 192–93
training elephants in, 138–39
Troglodytes, 100, 104
Truong Son Mountains, 118, 123, 124–25
tsetse fly, 97, 107, 109
Tswana peoples, 105
Tucker, Shelby, 178, 181–82, 183, 186
Tungpa (fandi), 23–24
U Toke Gale (Burmese elephant official), 49, 85
Uyu River, 150–51, 174
Vietnam, deforestation in, 141
Vietnam War:
elephant intelligence at work in, 118–23
elephants carrying supplies in, 90, 105, 116
elephant trap
ped in quicksand in, 123–24
and First Indochinese War, 124
Ho Chi Minh Trail, 6, 118, 122–23, 127, 128, 169
impact on elephants in, 127–29
mahout-elephant bond in, 122, 124, 127
napalm and defoliation in, 127, 129
opening fire on elephants in, 90, 128–29
refugee movement in, 125–26, 129
Vithaya (fandi), 25–27
Vu Hung, The Story of a Mahout and His War Elephant, 124–26, 129
Wahdi Azri, 198, 199, 201, 202
Wallace Line, 204
Wan Phalang (Lisu village), 181
Wa people, 111
war, elephants in, 3, 82–91, 95, 97–103, 105, 110, 115
and Alexander the Great, 97–98, 101, 229
at Battle of Gaugamela, 229
at Battle of Hydaspes, 97
at Battle of Raphia, 100–101
carrying supplies, 5–6, 169
Carthage vs. Rome, 99–100, 101–3
construction projects, 6, 59–60, 84
elephant intelligence, 123
impact on wild herds, 89, 129
opening fire on elephants, 90, 128–29
for rebel armies, 36, 116
wild and work elephants mating in, 117
see also Vietnam War; World War II
wild elephants:
birthrate of, 36
capturing, see catching wild elephants
fandis’ song to, 137
fighting with work elephants, 171
friendly toward humans, 48
impact of war on, 89, 129
as indistinct genetically from work elephants, 29
mating with work elephants, 6, 9, 33, 35, 61, 89, 91, 117, 120–21, 122–23
overhunting of, 103
“rogue,” 138
survival of, 61, 112–13
wildlife parks, 55, 114, 141, 143, 163, 189–92
Williams, James Howard “Elephant Bill,” 82, 89, 90
on an elephant’s death, 86–87
Elephant Bill memoir of, 145
on elephant innovation, 59–60
on Japanese treatment of elephants, 84–85
on nocturnal roaming, 35
on Shenan Pass evacuations, 66–67, 139–40
on women as mahouts, 145–46, 151
Win (mahout), 146
women:
elephants owned by, 151
as mahouts, 145–52
World War II, 62–91
bridge construction in, 6, 59–60
British and American forces retaking Burma in, 181
Burma Road in, 64, 82, 83, 134
divided Burmese loyalties in, 173
elephant convoys in, 3, 6
elephants as major resource in, 86, 104
elephants carrying supplies in, 83
elephants trained for combat in, 5
impact on elephants of, 88–91, 129
Japanese invasion/occupation of Burma, 62, 63–65, 83, 85–86, 88, 173
opening fire on elephants in, 90, 128
outbreak of, 173
Pearl Harbor attack in, 63
refugees in, 3, 62–79, 82–83, 104, 116–17, 126, 140, 173, 184
river crossings in, 192
road construction in, 179
secret elephant trails in, 5–6
stories of miscommunication in, 57–58, 66
Xuan Thieu (mahout), 118–23, 124, 127, 143, 167
Yangon, Burma, former capital city, 215. See also Rangoon
Yangtze River, 2
Yunnan, muleteers from, 185
Zomia (toponym), 111, 114
zoos, 14, 35, 51, 86, 90, 140
Giants of the Monsoon Forest is a work of nonfiction.
Certain names and potentially identifying details have been changed.
Copyright © 2019 by Jacob Shell
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The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Names: Shell, Jacob, 1983– author.
Title: Giants of the monsoon forest : living and working
with elephants / Jacob Shell.
Description: First edition. | New York : W. W. Norton & Company,
[2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018058217 | ISBN 9780393247763 (hardcover)
Subjects: LCSH: Elephants. | Human-animal relationships.
Classification: LCC QL795.E4 S525 2019 | DDC 599.67—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018058217
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