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Elephant Moti calm, being monitored
THE ELEPHANT Moti that went berserk at the Kamla Nehru Zoo and seriously injured its mahout yesterday, pulled down tin-sheds of a room near his enclosure today prompting the zoo authorities to keep the zoo closed for the second day today.
THE ELEPHANT Moti that went berserk at the Kamla Nehru Zoo and seriously injured its mahout yesterday, pulled down tin-sheds of a room near his enclosure today prompting the zoo authorities to keep the zoo closed for the second day today.
However, for rest of the day, the elephant was quite normal even as no outsiders, even media persons, were allowed to enter the zoo.
“The situation is under control now. Our team is constantly monitoring the elephant,” Ralamandal forest superintendent O P Sharma told Hindustan Times today. The team from Kanha Kisli, that was supposed to come this morning, did not turn up, he said but a team from Van Vihar Nature Park, Bhopal, had come to help the local personnel and later went back finding things pretty normal.
Around noon yesterday, minutes after a team of the Central Zoo Authority had received salami from the pachyderm, it hit mahout Ishtiaq Mohammed (37).
The mahout’s large intestine was pulled out as Moti thrashed him on the iron grill in front of the enclosure. He was immediately taken to the MY Hospital, where he is now recuperating after about four hours of surgery yesterday. The elephant has been with the zoo for more than 25 years now. Ishtiaq’s family has been with the zoo since long time and this is their seventh generation earning livelihood managing the elephants.
After spending a relatively quiet time during the day yesterday, Moti went out of control in the evening again and went on a rampage in the zoo premises while trumpeting loudly.
“The three tranquilliser darts were barely able to calm down the elephant for the night. It was with great difficulty that Moti was chained in his enclosure. Around 8 am today, the elephant again was irked by something and pulled down tins from atop the room near his enclosure,” Zoo in-charge Ramakant Shukla said.
Four Forest Department personnel, including a ranger, continuously monitored the situation throughout the day. No outsiders were allowed to enter the zoo premises as per instructions from the Conservator of Forest.
After around noon today, Moti was given a bath, a special bath at that. Apparently to cool down the flare, the elephant was showered for about an hour with a powerful water jet from the fire brigade’s tanker. Shukla said, “The animal then had food and rested for some time.”
Sharma said “We have asked the zoo authorities to feed sugarcane, curd and jaggery to the elephant. The animal will not be disturbed as far as possible.”
The situation is monitored on an hourly basis as the elephant at times becomes too unpredictable, Sharma said adding, “wildlife expert Jagdish Chandra is ready on call and would pitch in whenever the need arises.” It was Chandra who shot the darts into Moti’s skin to sedate the animal.
The Forest Department official was, however, critical of the infrastructure at the zoo. “The enclosure where Moti was tied is too weak a structure for an elephant of Moti’s size. God forbid if Moti gets another similar attack, then it would not be very hard for him to break the wall too,” Sharma said emphasising the need for stronger structure at the zoo. The zoo also needs a proper compound wall from all sides, he added.
One important thing that Sharma pointed out – particularly in wake of the Moti incident – was that the zoo authorities should come up with self-reliant strategies to tackle such situations in future.
“You can’t expect the Forest Department to come forward every time to handle any emergency. There has to be a contingency plan in place to manage any disaster at the zoo,” Sharma asserted.
