A male temple elephant, which developed ‘musth' trampled to death its mahout Nataraj (45) of Tiruchi in Sripuram housing the Sri Lakshmi Narayani Temple (golden temple) at Thirumalaikkodi near here on Thursday.
The mahout gave a command to the elephant, which it refused to obey. When he attempted to bring the elephant under his control, the pachyderm trampled him to death. It then uprooted a couple of trees on the Sripuram premises.
T.V. Manjunatha, District Forest Officer, Vellore, visited the spot and arranged to get a veterinary doctor from Arignar Anna Zoological Park, Vandalur.
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The doctor managed to calm the elephant only on Friday morning after administering three doses of tranquiliser.
Mr. Manjunatha told TheHindu that he has advised the temple authorities to not exhibit the animal before the public.