Celebrated Mysuru Dasara Elephant Arjuna Killed While Taming Wild Tusker In Karnataka
In a tragic incident, a captive elephant that was part of the Mysuru Dasara procession for more than two decades was killed in a fight with another tusker.
The elephant, Arjuna, died on Monday, December 4, in a fight with a rogue wild tusker during a capture operation in Karnataka's Hassan district.
How Arjuna became a celebrity
64-year-old Arjuna, who was captured in a khedda operation in 1968 from the forests of Kekkanakote, had served the forest department for almost 52 years and had participated in many elephant capture operations.
The majestic jumbo, which stood at a height of 2.95 meters and weighed around 5,870 kg, was also a star attraction at the annual Mysore Dasara.
Arjuna has participated in the famous Mysore Dasara for 22 years and carried the 750-kg 'howdah' during the procession eight times until 2019.
Arjuna was also one of the elephants at the Mysore Dasara in October this year.
How Arjuna was killed
Earlier this week, Arjuna was deployed in a capture operation in Hassan district, where a rogue wild elephant has been blamed for several human deaths.
On Monday, the Karnataka Forest Department fired tranquliser darts at the wild elephant near Yeslur in Sakaleshpur, after which Arjuna moved in to tame it.
What Forest Department said
But a wild elephant, which was not fully tranquilised, turned on Arjuna and gored it to death.
"Five elephants were captured from November 24-30, of which three have been left in other forest areas after fixing radio collars on them. Two of the female elephants, which were also darted, were radio-collared and reunited with their families. All these five elephants are being monitored," said Kumar Pushkar, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife).
"Today, the operation shifted from Belur to Yeslur, where we have some troubling elephants; therefore, we wanted to capture and place radio collars on them so that we could note their movement and then alert the people accordingly. But unfortunately, we lost our best elephant Arjuna, in a fight. He was inducted into the forest department in 1972 and served us for almost 52 years," Pushkar added.
What is Arjuna's legacy?
Many, including Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, expressed grief over the death of the famed elephant.
"It was sad to hear the demise of 'Arjuna', the elephant who was loved by the people and who was the centrepiece of the historic Mysuru Dasara, Jambu Sawari (parade of caparisoned elephants) for eight years successfully," he said in the post in Kannada.
"Arjuna, who served mother Chamundeshwari by carrying a golden howdah weighing exactly 750 kg, marching with utmost restraint, died in a fight with wild elephant. Arjuna walking majestically among millions of people will forever remain in the minds of Kannadigas like me," his post added.
Karnataka Environment and Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre expressed grief over the death of Arjuna, saying it was very unfortunate that the famed elephant died after being attacked by a rogue tusker.
"The rouge elephant attacked Arjuna and hit him with its tusks, causing his death," Khandre said in a statement.
"Even after the staff opened fire in the air, the tusker attacked the tamed elephant. While the other three tamed elephants withdrew, Arjuna fought alone. The veterinarian and the mahout somehow escaped," he added.
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