The temple elephant, which was roughed up by its mahout and his assistant on Saturday at the Thekkampatti annual rejuvenation camp for temple and mutt elephants, remained chained to a tree as of Tuesday.
Top officials from the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department and Forest Department confirmed to The Hindu that the chain had not been removed since Sunday, when the mahout, Vinil Kumar (46), and a caretaker, Sivaprasath (32), were arrested by the Forest Department a few hours after the video of them caning the elephant Jayamalyatha from the Andal Temple in Srivilliputhur went viral on social media.
Due to this, the elephant cannot undertake the regular morning and evening walking exercises at the rejuvenation camp. With the appointment of a new mahout Subramaniam, the chain could be removed only after the new mahout feels confident in handling the 19-year-old female elephant, the officials said.
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The elephant also began to eat rice, ragi, fodder and nutritional supplements on Tuesday. It had not eaten properly since Sunday due to the absence of the mahout it is familiar with. “The elephant is slowly returning to normal,” a senior HR&CE Department official said on Tuesday.
A committee comprising elephant experts from Forest and Animal Husbandry Departments conducted a programme for mahouts at the camp on Tuesday on how to handle insubordinate elephants without resorting to cruelty. The camp will soon be open for the public and the media after the committee examines all the elephants, according to the HR&CE Department officials.