Elephant tramples mahout to death in Samayapuram temple

TIRUCHY: The elephant of the famous Mariamman temple at Samayapuram near Tiruchy went wild on Friday and tragically killed its mahout when he tried to control the animal with his ‘elephant goad’. As a result of this incident, the temple was closed for ‘darshan’ to the devotees. It is likely that the ‘darshan’ will resume on Saturday, sources told DC over the phone.

Police said nine-year-old female elephant named ‘Masini’, which was tied to a pillar near the rear entrance of the temple suddenly became restless and started trumpeting loudly.

On seeing the elephant’s unusual behavior, its mahout Gajendran attempted to control the elephant by giving her blow with his ‘goad’ (‘Angusam’) on its front leg. But the elephant turned wild, caught hold of the mahout by its trunk, threw him on the ground and stamped him to death.

The panic-stricken devotees and temple staff ran helter-skelter for their safety. In the melee, at least seven devotees sustained minor injuries. The temple authorities then cleared the large number of devotees inside the sanctum sanctorum. The staff locked all the four gates by leaving the incensed elephant inside the temple complex.

Police rushed to the spot and removed the injured to the hospital and informed the matter to the Forest department. The officials who came to the spot expressed their inability to inject tranquilizer to the elephant to bring it under control. Meanwhile, six other mahouts from nearby temples were rushed to the spot and they managed to bring the elephant under control, by tying the back legs of the elephant.


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Nawab Shafat Ali Khan kills rogue elephant in Jharkhand

Renowned sharp shooter from Hyderabad, Nawab Shafat Ali Khan has shot down a rogue elephant on Friday which had killed 11 people in Sahebganj district of Jharkhand and four people in neighbouring Bihar apart from wrecking havoc in many villages by destroying homes and fields of tribals.

Khan said that he reached Jharkhand on August 9 on invitation from the state government to bring down the elephant after efforts by teams of forest department staff from Jharkhand and WB did not bear fruit.

Elephant is an endangered species protected under Schedule-I of the Wildlife Protection Act. However, Khan said that he tried his best to tranquilize the elephant before killing it. He said, “The forest was very thick and there were intermittent rains. The visibility was very restricted. It was proving very difficult to take aim. Moreover, tracking the elephant was also becoming tough. Overnight the elephant was travelling as far as 20 kilometers and was destroying homes of people and injuring them. So, the decision to shoot it had to be taken.”

Khan said that he had a brush with death before taking down the elephant with his .458 Winchester magnum rifle.

He said, “The elephant charged at me and was just ten meters away when I took my shot. It was a narrow escape for me.”

Khan, who is advisor to forest departments of five States, has killed seven such elephants till now and is called for his services across the country.

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Jharkhand forest authorities give order to kill elephant that killed 15 people

The forest authorities in Ranchi have given orders of shoot to kill for an elephant, that killed 15 persons in Bihar and Jharkhand since March this year. Currently, the elephant, a young adult aged around 25, has been spotted in Sahibganj district of Jharkhand. A hunter from Hyderabad has already arrived and is camping in the area for the purpose. The elephant had last killed two persons over two days on Monday and Tuesday.

Most of its victims have been members of the Paharia tribal – a primitive tribal group with a thin population of over 25,000 in the state, who live in the densely forested hills of Sahibganj district. According to the officials, the elephant entered Jharkhand from Bihar late in March. In between, it again crossed into Bihar and then returned to Jharkhand. Efforts made to tranquilise the elephants have not yielded results, even as casualties have occurred.

Jharkhand’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) L R Singh said: “We have been trying to tranquilise and capture the elephant for nearly a fortnight. But it has not yielded results. On the other hand, casualties have taken place. Therefore, finally, we gave orders to shoot to kill the elephant.”

In order to get the task executed, the forest authorities have called Nawab Shafath Ali Khan of Hyderabad. He has already arrived in Jharkhand and camping with the team in Sahibganj. “He is among the most experienced names and is credited with culling neel gais in Bihar and killing a rogue elephant last year in the same state. He has been with us for the past few days. In fact, he has been trying to tranquilise and capture the elephant. But the terrain is proving to be the main difficulty,” said Singh. The effort would ensure least painful death.

The elephant is roaming in the Raj Mahal Hills in Taljhari, Borio and Sahibganj Blocks. “The visibility becomes less than 15 feet and the forest is so dense that entering it has not been possible. That is why we were forced to finally issue the orders for killing,” said Singh. The last sighting of the elephant was in a dense area in Taljhari Block, he said.

Recalling the elephant’s venture into Jharkhand, Singh said that, on March 24, the elephant entered Jharkhand from Bihar. “It had already killed three in Bihar and began killing people in Jharkhand. Then, in between, for a brief period, it re-entered Bihar and killed one more person. Later, it again returned to Jharkhand and has, so far, killed 11 persons in all,” he said. The last two killings took place on August 7 and 8.

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‘Terror elephant’ Chullikomban caught after tranquilizing

KANNUR: Chullikomban, the lone tusker that unleashed terror in Aralam forest region, has been finally caught after tranquilizing. The elephant that killed four people in Aralam alone, was caught after 15 hours of effort on Wednesday, said forest officials.

The forest officials began the task under the leadership of north zone forest conservator Shrawan Kumar Verma in the morning and by noon it was tranquilized by the veterinary surgeon Arun Zacharia. However, three wild elephants guarded it and hence it could not be caught, said officials. Later, around 2.30 pm, once again it was tranquilized using tranquilizer gun and the guarding elephants were driven off using trained elephants.

However, owing to rain, the rogue elephant could not be taken in a vehicle immediately, and it was around 4.30 pm that it was taken in a special vehicle. Later around 10.15 pm it was put in the cage, a temporary training crush, built specially for this purpose with eucalyptus trees.

This elephant is a mystery creature and it had been roaming around in the Aralam locality for quite some time. Normally a lone tusker will always be alone, but this one was different and at times it moved alone. It also mingled with different groups sometimes, they said.

The tusker will be shifted to the elephant shelter and training centre at Kodanad in Ernakulam district. However, since they cannot shift it immediately after tranquilizing, they must keep the rogue elephant here for a few more weeks and hence the cage.

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