Elephant tramples mahout to death at Kottoor rehabilitation centre in Kerala

An elephant at the Kottoor Elephant Rehabilitation Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, trampled a mahout to death on Thursday (February 5, 2026).

The elephant, named Manu, reportedly crushed its first mahout, Vishnu, to death during the morning bathing session. The elephant first attacked the 25-year-old victim, a native of Venganoor, by throwing him into the water, subsequently trampling him to death.

Although Vishnu was taken to a hospital after other mahouts drove the elephant away from the scene, the doctors declared him ‘brought dead’. His body has been kept in the morgue of the Aryanad Government Hospital, according to the police.