Retired Dasara elephant Arjuna’s life and gory end: A tale of incompetence and cruelty

The wild tusker, said to be in musth (a condition of heightened aggression and unpredictable behaviour in elephants, especially during mating season), charged at Arjuna, who stood his ground and faced him, even as the other kumkis stepped back. The wild elephant gored Arjuna near his trunk and abdomen, and broke his ribs.

Arjuna, who had carried the howdah as part of Mysuru Dasara for eight years between 2012 and 2019, fell in a heap and breathed his last at the Yesalur Range in Hassan district’s Sakleshpur around 2.30 pm on Monday.

Following the attack, the Forest Department aborted the 11-day bid to capture the wild jumbo, which was part of a marauding herd of 12 elephants.

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Who was Arjuna?

Standing tall at 2.88 metres, and weighing 5,800 kg, Arjuna was majestic and was part of Dasara’s elephant procession — Jambu Savari — for 22 years.

Arjuna’s mahout was inconsolable after the elephant was killed by a wild tusker. (Supplied)

Though he retired at the age of 60, his fearlessness remained in him.

“It is very hard to spot Arjuna in any photographs without an ankush — bull-hook — on one of his ears. He was that aggressive and once even killed a mahout. The killing was brushed aside as an accident,” wildlife researcher Ramesh Belagere told South First.

Belagere investigated the incident and found out that the mahout was alcoholic and smoked beedi. Arjuna hated the smell of tobacco and alcohol.

“One day, the mahout slipped and fell before Arjuna, who trampled the man,” he said.

Following the incident, Arjuna was “sentenced” to seven to eight months of solitary confinement. After coming out of confinement, he was trained to be a Dasara elephant.

When he carried the 750-kg Howdah for the first time, he tried to shake it off since it was too heavy. He was then barred from carrying the Howdah, and another elephant, Balarama, was assigned the duty.

After Balarama’s death, the mantle of carrying the Howdah again fell on Arjuna, Belagere recalled.

The wildlife researcher also said that Arjuna then had a “wonderful” mahout, Vinu. “His brother Raja was the Kavadi (assistant), responsible for bathing the elephant and preparing food. Vinu trained him to be a kumki. The mahout was Arjuna’s favourite, too,” he said.

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Bhima’s replacement

Arjuna’s tragic end saddened wildlife conservationists, elephant lovers, and all those who had witnessed him at the Dasara. While all condoled his untimely death, some conservationists questioned the lapses on the part of the Forest Department.

President of the United Conservation Movement (UCM) and a former member of the State Wildlife Board Joseph Hoover said the chief wildlife warden is principally responsible for the untimely death of Arjuna.

“The elephant had retired four years ago. On top of that, Arjuna was in musth, when testosterone runs high in elephants, and they turn hyper-aggressive, attacking almost everything. He had a crack on his foot pad, and yet he was pressed into the capture operation,” he said.

Hoover, who learnt the details of the entire capture operation, told South First: “Arjuna retired at 60. He was spending his time peacefully foraging near the Balle camp in the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve. At 64, he was forced out of retirement as the Karnataka Forest Department had recently ‘exported’ two kumki elephants to Maharashtra. Had the kumki elephant, Maharashtra Bhima from the Mathigod camp, not been sold, he would have been involved in the capture operations in Hassan district.”

He added: “The chief wildlife warden, or whoever took the decision, was aware of Arjuna’s retirement. They were also aware of his physical condition and musth. He was to be returned to the Balle camp last week. But as fate would have, he was retained along with the other five kumkis to capture the crop-raiding elephant.”

Hoover also highlighted a lapse in the capture operation. The veterinarian apparently lacked expertise in tranquillising a wild animal.

“The veterinarian who was tasked with the operation had only around two years of experience and instead of shooting the tranquilliser dart at the wild rogue tusker, shot at one of the kumki elephants, who was down for a moment. When the mahouts were busy reviving Prashanth, the wild tusker charged at Arjuna, who stood his ground, bore the brunt of the attack, and was killed,” he explained.

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 Dasara,” he stated.

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Captured young

Belagere recalled a few chapters from Arjuna’s life. He was captured in the Kodagu forests in a Kheda (capturing elephants using pits as traps) operation in 1965.

“In Kheda operations, huge trenches are dug along the elephant corridors and covered with stacks of bamboo or sticks. And the wild elephants are chased and driven along the way when they fall into this trench and get captured,” he said, adding that “a large number of elephants would be captured for moving timber from forests”.

Arjuna was captured in one such Kheda at Benedekatte in Thithimathi in the Kodagu district.

“He was 11 or 12 years old then. After he (Arjuna) fell into the trench along with other adult members of the herd, they all were captured using trained elephants, and the trauma he underwent as a calf and from what he had witnessed made him more aggressive,” Belagere said.

“Since he was captured very young, his time in the wild was very short and he started growing up in an elephant kraal where he was well fed and was trained. He had been taken for capturing wild elephants. He was fearless, and used to take wild tuskers head-on,” he said.

Belagere said that dying an unnatural painful death could be a “curse” of Dasara elephants.

Dhrona, the elephant who had carried the Howdah 18 times in the 1980s and 1990s, was killed by electrocution after coming in contact with a high-tension live wire.

Later, Balarama, the elephant who had carried the Howdah for 13 years, was shot dead in 2022 by a farmer while he was foraging at a farm. The farmer failed to notice the chains or the bell on the elephant.

Arjuna succeeded Balarama. After Arjuna’s retirement, Abhimanyu has been carrying the Howdah.