Trichy: It is unlikely of female elephants to turn violent and the incident at Samayapuram temple where a female elephant, Masini, trampled its mahout to death is rare, say wildlife experts. According to them, female elephants were mostly calm and that was one reason why a majority of temple elephants in Tamil Nadu were female.They also said that the temple officials miserably failed to provide a conducive atmosphere for the elephant. Mahout Gajendran undermined the hormonal changes in Masini, which was turning into an adult. The fact that iron chains were not around Masini’s legs during the incident proved that the mahout failed or undermined its behaviour. It was primarily the mahout who turned out to be the first casualty in such incidents, as it happened in this case, they pointed out.“A conflict in mahout-elephant relationship is evident if we go by the video footage of the incident,” said conservation scientist K Kumaraguru, who is also an executive committee member of the captive elephant welfare committee, Trichy. “Masini’s life was a roller-coaster ride. It was orphaned soon after its birth and was raised in the elephant camp at Theppakadu. It was a pet elephant among the others and had no problems in the wild. Masini was the last elephant given by former chief minister J Jayalalithaa to a temple in Tamil Nadu,” Kumaraguru said.“Whatever may be the reason, we cannot expect an elephant to behave like a human all the time. It tends to become furious if stressed out. But this incident could have been avoided,” said a veterinarian who spent time with Masini when it was in Theppakadu elephant camp. “High temperature and stress induced by a large human crowd around it on daily basis all through the summer could be a vital reason for it to turn violent,” said the veterinarian.“Its role was restricted to a mere exhibitor in the temple during pujas. It was kept stationary in the temple to give blessings on the instructions of the mahout Gajendran,” said a temple official.

Stay updated with all the Latest Trichy headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.