Experts must enquire into Arjuna’s death

The Karnataka Forest Department has come in for severe criticism from wildlife activists and the people at large for the botched operation to capture a wild tusker which resulted in the death of Arjuna, the state’s popular elephant that carried the golden howdah during Mysuru Dasara. The incident occurred near Yeslur in Hassan district’s Sakleshpura taluk. According to Forest Department officers, an operation was launched to capture the wild tusker, which had been destroying crops in nearby villages, with the help of six trained elephants, including Arjuna. The wild elephant which was ‘masth’ charged at Arjuna, prompting the other elephants to back off. Arjuna stood his ground but was repeatedly gored, leading to his instant death from serious injuries. Though old, Arjuna may have been chosen for the operation as he had participated in several such operations in the past. Though Forest Department personnel fired warning shots in the air, the rampaging tusker refused to retreat and attacked Arjuna. However, the Forest Department’s version has been challenged by many who claim that the death was due to failure to follow the standard operating procedure and mistakes made during the operation. According to one eyewitness account, a tranquiliser dart shot by a veterinarian accompanying the khedda party hit one of the department’s trained elephants, Prashant, rather than the wild tusker it was intended for. Another version is that the dart hit Arjuna himself, making him incapable of fighting off the wild tusker. One mahout has claimed that a bullet had hit Arjuna in the leg and weakened him. This incident comes close on the heels of the death of a wild pachyderm during a similar operation in Chikkamagaluru, allegedly due to a violation of norms. In another incident, a Forest staffer lost his life during the operations.

Arjuna, who was himself captured in a khedda operation in 1968, was a celebrity of sorts, having participated in the Mysuru Dasara procession for 22 years. He had carried the 750-kg golden howdah as the lead elephant for eight years, from 2012 to 2019. Though he continued to be a part of the procession, he was dropped from the list of howdah-carrying elephants following a government order that jumbos that had crossed 60 years of age should not be used for rigorous activities. It is thus strange that the 63-year-old Arjuna, who was supposed to lead a ‘retired’ life, was pressed into service to capture the wild elephant.

On the face of it, the operation appears to have been botched up right from the word go. In the process, Karnataka has lost a much-loved elephant. Only an independent inquiry by experts can bring out the truth of how it died.