Video captured the moment an elephant crushed a man (trainer) to death while he was poking to to position for a tourist to ride on. The incident happened at Kerala Farm, a private safari center in Kallar Park, Idukki district, India.
The victim was identified as a 62-year-old mahout (a person who works with, rides, and tends an elephant) named Balakrishnan from Neeleswaram. The female elephant suddenly turned against her handler and trampled him to death while he was trying to move it to a position for a tourist to ride on.
The elephant had the man under his feet and weight its full weight, continue to stomp on him till he died. At a point, he lifted his lifeless body with its trunk. Watch the video below:
The forest department on Friday ordered immediate closure of the park and the immediate transfer of the elephant to Kottayam, while the Forest Minister A K Saseendran directed the ACF (assistant conservator of forests) to investigate the operations of illegal elephant safaris and unnecessary actions against them.
It was gathered that tthe owner of the elephant is A H Jalaludeen, a resident of Erumeli in Kottayam district, but the animal was under the custody of P K Raveendran, a resident of Kanjirappally. The elephant is 53 years old named Lakshmi who was kept at Kerala Farm in Anaviratty village of Devikulam taluk for safari, and the owner of the farm was identified as P P Bijesh, a resident of Koyilandy in Kozhikode.
Elephant safari was banned by the Kerala High Court in 2020, but the park reopened few months after it closure, and according to animal rights activist M N Jayachandran, is the only district in Kerala where elephant safari parks are operating.
“As per the Captive Elephant Management Rules, 2003, elephants can be used only for parading associated with religious functions, with permission from the district level monitoring committee. To use elephants for safari, the owner has to get a licence from the Animal Welfare Board of India. I have booked 11 cases against illegal elephant safaris in Idukki during the past two years. None of these safaris possess a valid licence,” said ACF Vipindas.
“However, the rules do not specify penal action for using elephants for safari. The government has taken steps to amend the rules and a stakeholders’ meeting will be held on June 26 to discuss the amendment,” he said. None of the parks use male elephants for safari as it is risky. The female elephants are brought from other districts, for which the park owners enter into a contract with elephant owners.
