THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A veteran temple elephant in the capital city is battling age-related ailments with sheer grit. Sreekandeswaram Sivakumar, 70, is a tusker owned by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) and kept at the Kanthalloor Mahadeva temple.
On Saturday, a few weeks after it had to be lifted by a crane to its feet, the jumbo underwent minor surgery to remove an abscess on its right back limb. Dr B Aravind, the TDB’s veterinary doctor and a former joint director with the Animal Husbandry department, told TNIE that the abscess had grown in size over the past three years. The removed tissue debris weighed around 4 kg, he said.
“The animal has amazing stamina and grit. So I’m hopeful of a speedy recovery. A therapeutic diet comprising protein supplements and fibre-rich food is administered. Last month, it developed a wound when it struggled to get back onto its feet after a nap. It was healed with the support of medicines,” Aravind said.
The animal started showing symptoms of age-related illnesses in April. “Three times - on April 11, 19 and 21 - the animal could not get onto its feet after lying down. It had to be lifted with the support of a crane. Usually, aged elephants that find it difficult to stand on their own will collapse soon. But Sivakumar is recovering,” Aravind said.
But after the third fall, the animal was not allowed to lie down. It is housed in a kral, a wooden enclosure where it can stand and sleep by leaning against the wall. “It is a temporary arrangement until the animal regains strength. Every day, it is bathed and taken for a brief walk in the mornings and evenings,” Aravind said.
Mahouts Jayaprasad and Sreejith are taking extra care of the animal. “The elephant has a gentle nature and would obey commands. It loves to be in the company of humans. It gets cheered up when people it knows for long, mostly those in the neighbourhood, pay a visit,” he added.
Sreejith took charge in April after the first mahout Prabhakaran Nair went on leave. “He is my uncle and was Sivakumar’s mahout for 18 years. Prabhakaran was heartbroken seeing Sivakumar struggling to stand on its feet. He was hospitalised with high BP. Now, he is undergoing an eye treatment,” he said.
Sivakumar was a regular at major temple festivals in South Kerala. “Festival organisers admire his gentle character. The last event he participated in was the aarattu in connection with the Painkuni festival at Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple,” he said.