Woman killed as elephant falls on her at Kodagu forest camp
A 33-year-old woman tourist died on Monday after an elephant fell on her at the Dubare Elephant Camp in Karnataka’s Kodagu district, reports The Indian Express.
According to officials, two captive elephants, Kanchan and Martanda, got into a fight while being bathed by mahouts. Martanda lost balance and fell on Tulasi, a resident of Tamil Nadu, who was watching the elephants with her family. The mahouts attempted to control the elephants but were unsuccessful. Tulasi was pulled out of the water and rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared her dead on arrival.
According to bystanders, the incident occurred in the morning when visitors were allowed to feed and scrub the elephants as they bathed. Tulasi’s husband and child, who were standing next to her, managed to escape but she fell in the water and got trapped underneath the elephants, the paper said.
Speaking to mediapersons, Tulasi’s husband Joel said, “We came here for vacation from Pallavaram in Chennai…One elephant attacked the other and the latter fell on top of us (Joel, Tulasi and their child). Somehow I managed to escape but my wife couldn’t… everyone ran away. Someone else was taking our photos and we were posing when the incident happened… I couldn’t save her…tried to drag her out… but my wife was dead… everything is gone. I was screaming for help…only one person helped me pull her out.”
Karnataka Minister for Forest, Ecology and Environment Eshwar Khandre, ordered a detailed probe into the incident. The minister ordered the preparation of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to ensure tourist safety at all elephant camps across the state and directed that tourists be allowed to watch elephants bathing from a distance of 100 feet.
Khandre termed the incident extremely shocking and unforeseeable. “No matter how well-trained elephants and other wild animals are, predicting their behaviour at any given moment remains difficult,” he said.
Dubare Forest Camp, located on the bank of the Kaveri River in Kodagu, is known for its camps where elephants caught from the forest are trained. The forest department charges an entry fee and the mahouts charge visitors to feed and scrub the elephants.
