Though a handler of an elephant is called a ‘mahout’ in general, a head ‘mahout’ or ‘mahoot’ and the profession are called by different names in different parts of Asia; for example, in Kerala, India, a mahout is called an ‘anakaran’ (and in Tamil language, it’s ‘pahan’ and in Malayalam, ‘paappaan’); in nepal he’s called a ‘pachuwa’; in Burma, the present Myanmar, a ‘oozie’ and in Thailand, a ‘kao-chang’ or ‘kwan-chang’.

A mahout must know when the elephant he trains as a beast of burden is in a bad mood; otherwise, he risks losing his life if the elephant turns wild and tramples him under its feet!

It is awesome to see a small mahout handle a huge mountain-like elephant using only a small tool called ‘ankusha’ or ‘ankus’.

Most mahouts in Asia are the ones who look after the elephants of the Hindu temples whose task is to train and prepare the elephants for ceremonial purpose.