A 54-year-old mahout attached to the Theppakadu elephant camp of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in the Nilgiris was trampled to death by a female camp elephant on Friday morning.
The deceased has been identified as C.M. Balan (54), the mahout of camp elephant Masini.
According to the MTR administration, Masini (16) attacked Balan at 9.10 a.m., after he finished its morning feeding at the elephant camp. He was rescued by other elephant men and was rushed to Government Hospital Gudalur. He succumbed to severe head injuries and was declared dead at 9.34 a.m., said the MTR administration.
Masini was brought to the Theppakadu elephant camp after the Forest Department found her as a three-month-old, abandoned calf in Kargudi forests in 2006. It was sent to Samayapuram temple in October 2015. However, the elephant was brought back to MTR in January 2019, after it trampled its mahout on the temple premises on May 25, 2018. Balan was taking care of the elephant since then.
