The Forest department has asked the Samayapuram Mariamman Temple authorities to keep elephant Masini, which trampled its mahout G. Gajendran to death on Friday, away from temple activities for three months.
The decision was taken after the visit of the Chief Conservator of Forest, Yogesh Singh, and senior officials of Forest, Animal Husbandry and Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) departments to Mahalikudi, where the agitated elephant has keen kept under observation after being shifted from the temple on Friday evening.
Under stress
A team of veterinarians, led by N.S. Manoharan, forest veterinary surgeon, who inspected Masini, desisted from conducting physical tests considering the high level of stress that the jumbo was under. However, the vets conducted a behavioural observance test to study its aggressiveness.
District Forest Officer D. Sujatha told The Hindu that Masini was taken to Mahalikudi with the help of a few mahouts of the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam and Sri Jambukeswarar Akilandeswari temple in Tiruvanaikoil. The elephant had started taking routine diet and it was obeying instructions of a retired mahout, whose services had been roped in.
A few additional steps have been taken to create a green ambience in the shelter. The elephant would be kept in the open space.
“We are closely watching Masini. It is found normal. However, there are reasons to believe that it is in a state of confusion after the loss of its instructor,” Ms. Sujatha said.
Since it required a few more weeks for the animal to calm down, it could not be involved in routine temple duties and festivals for three months. “The need of the hour is to keep Masini in a tranquil environment. It is not advisable to subject it to any physical examination immediately as it may increase its stress level,” said a senior veterinarian.
Meanwhile, after cleansing rituals and special pujas, the Sri Mariamman Temple was reopened to devotees on Saturday morning.
