Poise in action and composure even under stressful situation was the hallmark of Dasara elephant Srirama who died at K. Gudi camp in BRT Sanctuary following a fight with jumbo Gajendra, on Sunday night.
Gajendra who was in musth, gored his mahout Ganapati to death, and later attacked Srirama causing injuries which led to his death. Srirama, about 59 years old, was captured from Tithimathi forest in 1969 under the pit method.
Besides shoring up the famed Mysuru Dasara by carrying the colourful umbrella to signal the start of the famed Jumboo Savari or the Vijayadashmi procession, Srirama – along with Gajendra – used to participate in religious activities of the palace and was known as the Nishane or Naupat elephant.
Ironically, it was his ability to tackle wild elephants on the rampage, subdue and help capture them that made Srirama a favourite among Forest Department officials.
Veterinarian Nagaraj who tended to Srirama for many years said, “Srirama could negotiate and find his way out of most stressful situations while dealing with rampaging rogue elephants and was an asset to our team.” He recalled that when a herd of wild elephants charged on the foresters, there was complete confusion and in the melee a senior officer stumbled and fell down. Srirama, who was making a strategic retreat from the marauding elephants, saw the official flat on the ground and displaying remarkable presence of mind immediately restrained himself, shuffled sideways and gingerly placed his foot on the ground. “Any other elephant in its place would have trampled the man on ground,” Mr. Nagaraj said.
