Captive elephant involved in Kozhikode temple tragedy was close to musth, reveals report

Final report reveals negligence and violations leading to tragic elephant incident in Kerala, urging stricter regulations and monitoring.

The captive elephant Guruvayur Peethambaran, one of the elephants involved in the tragedy that took place at Manakulangara temple at Koyilandy in Kozhikode, Kerala on February 13, was highly probable to enter musth, says the final report by R. Keerthi, Conservator of Forest (Social Forestry), Northern Region, Kozhikode.

In the report submitted to the Department of Forests, the conservator has pointed out that the testosterone level in Peethambaran’s blood was above 15 nanograms/millilitre while the normal level is 1.84-5.35 ng/ml.

The report also points to blatant violations of the Kerala Captive Elephant (Management and Maintenance) Rules, 2003. The elephants Peethambaran and Gokul were not in chains and firecrackers were burst carelessly very close to the elephants. The mahout of Peethambaran had informed the temple authorities that the elephant would turn violent if he heard the sound of firecrackers.

The report points out that the temple authorities had asked permission to parade four elephants for the temple festival to the District Monitoring Committee of captive elephants. The order mentions the distance to be maintained between elephants and between the elephants and the public. However, neither was followed in this instance.

The report, based on the video footage of the festival and the statements of the mahouts and public, says that firecrackers exploded very close to where the elephants were standing. The initial distance between the elephants was reduced when the temple authorities asked the mahouts to align them closer. The elephant Gokul moved nearer to Peethambaran when the latter charged at the former, resulting in them both being pushed into the nearby building. The building collapsed and three people – Leela, Ammukkutty and Rajan – died in the incident. Leela was trampled by one of the elephants while the other two fell under the building rubble.

More than 30 people were injured as well. Firecrackers were continuously burst on the temple premises the whole time, the report says.

The report suggests a blanket ban on bursting firecrackers within the earshot of elephants and that testosterone levels should be checked before providing fitness certificates to captive elephants to be paraded. It also suggests the formation of a sub-committee District Monitoring Committee, including Forest, police and fire and rescue services officials, to ensure that the suggestions are implemented.