The 64-year-old elephant Arjuna, which used to carry the golden howdah for right years, died on Monday during a fight with a wild elephant at the Yesalur range forest in Sakleshpura taluk of Hassan district, officials familiar with the matter said, adding that the fight took place during an operation to capture wild elephant.
According to the officials, both Arjuna and the wild elephant were musth. Arjuna succumbed after the wild elephant’s tusk pierced his stomach, during the fight. “We launched a wild elephant translocation operation on Monday morning as a team of elephants arrived in Bengaluru from the neighbouring Chikkamagaluru district on Saturday,” said SP Mahadev, assistant conservator of forests (ACF).
While the other elephants dispersed, during the attack, Arjuna valiantly fought with the wild elephant. As the two elephants engaged in a clash, Arjuna’s mahouts, sensing the intensity of the fight, descended from their vantage point and retreated, the ACF said.
Notably, the forest department has recently implemented various measures to address the increasing human-elephant conflicts in the hilly regions of Hassan district, including fitting radio collars on elephants to monitor their movements and launch operations to capture them.
Arjuna, a prominent participant in Mysuru Dasara for 22 years, had carried the Ambari eight times from 2012 to 2019. The giant used to be a part of the Jamboosawari as a Nishane elephant and stands at 2.88 meters tall and weighs around 5,800 to 6,000 kg.
{{/usCountry}}Arjuna, a prominent participant in Mysuru Dasara for 22 years, had carried the Ambari eight times from 2012 to 2019. The giant used to be a part of the Jamboosawari as a Nishane elephant and stands at 2.88 meters tall and weighs around 5,800 to 6,000 kg.
{{/usCountry}}In another incident, a wild elephant died after being administered a tranquilizer dart at Mudigere tulik in Chikkamagaluru district on December 2.
Meanwhile, chief minister Siddaramaiah expressed grief over the death of Arjuna. “It was sad to hear the news of the demise of ‘Arjuna’, the elephant who was loved by the people and who was the centerpiece of the historic Mysore Dussehra, Jambusawari, for eight years very successfully,” he posted on X.
Bengaluru-based environmentalist Joseph Hoover attributed Arjuna’s death to department’s negligence. “This death is caused by the forest department itself,” he said, adding the department mistakenly darted the tranquilizer at Arjuna, after missing aim at the wild tusker.