NILGIRIS: Rehabilitated kumki elephant, 'Moorthy', formerly an aggressive jumbo, died due to age-related ailments at Theppakadu Elephant Camp in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) on Saturday night.
The 68-year-old wild makhna (tuskless male) elephant had attacked and killed 23 persons in Kerala before 1998. As a result, the then Kerala Chief Wildlife warden had issued a shooting order against the animal. However, he then entered into Tamil Nadu and went on to attack and kill two more persons. Subsequently, the Tamil Nadu Chief Wildlife Warden issued an order to capture Moorthy.
Popular Theppakadu Elephant Camp veterinarian Dr Krishnamoorthy had captured the elephant by tranquilising him on July 12, 1998, at Vachikoli area of Gudalur Forest Division. He had many injuries all over his body which Dr Krishnamoorthy treated. The makhna was christened Moorthy in memory of Dr Krishnamoorthy. He was then sent for rehabilitation at the camp.
Recalling the operation to capture Moorthy, Krishnamoorthy’s son Sridhar said, “The then chief wildlife warden decided to capture Moorthy after my father pointed out that a makhna is a rare breed. He was gigantic at 9.5 m and weighed over 4.5 tonnes.”
He continued, “I was with my father during the operation. The animal had over 15 bullet injuries all over the body that were allegedly caused by farmers and poachers in Kerala. The then Union minister Menaka Gandhi during a visit to Mudumalai appreciated the forest department officials for taking care of Moorthy.”
Moorthy became a different animal after being tamed. He was also trained to be a ‘kumki’ elephant, helping forest officials capture wild elephants that entered human habitation.
D Venkatesh, Field Director of MTR and Conservator of Forests, Nilgiris district, recounted, "The ferocious elephant came to Theppakadu Elephant Camp and became calm after being tamed. The camp would not have seen such a calm elephant like him. Moorthy cooperated in many kinds of tasks. However, since the past year, his physical condition was very poor due to old age."
The pachyderm was given retirement on the basis of reaching 58 years of age on March 31, 2022, Venkatesh said.
Theppakkadu veterinary assistant surgeon K Rajesh Kumar was providing adequate treatment to the elephant. However, Moorthy passed away at around 9 pm on Saturday. A postmortem has been scheduled for Sunday morning.
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(With online desk inputs)