Tamed elephant exhibits rogue behaviour against mahouts, calms down after 2 hours

What caused the tamed elephant to go rogue was a motorcyclist who revved up the engine while going past the pachyderm.

A domesticated elephant went rogue and the mahouts had a tough time controlling it on Sunday. The incident briefly created panic among the residents of Angadical village in this southern district of Kerala. What caused the tamed elephant to go rogue was a motorcyclist who revved up the engine while going past the pachyderm. After more than two hours of cajoling by offering the animal all kinds of food, the mahouts were able to calm the tusker down and chain him.

A senior Forest Department official said that while the elephant was being taken for a bath, the motorcyclist came from behind the animal and revved up while he went past the tusker.

The sound unsettled the tusker which moved away from its mahouts and refused to listen to them, the officer said.

Thereafter, the elephant moved into a copse of trees on the side of the road, he said, and added that the tusker caused no harm to life or property.

Visuals of the incident, aired on TV channels, showed the elephant standing in the thicket surrounded by mahouts who were screaming commands to calm it down.

They managed to tie two of its legs to some trees using nylon ropes, but the elephant continued to be agitated and even broke free, but the rope that fastened one leg was intact. That probably prevented the tusker from going on the rampage. However, the animal was seen rushing at the mahouts a few times, swinging its trunk around at them.

As news of the incident spread, a lot of onlookers gathered and gave the police a tough time trying to disperse the curious crowd.

After a couple of hours of sustained efforts, the disturbed tusker heard the instructions of its mahouts, became calm, and lay on the ground, allowing its keepers to chain it.