Elephant brought for temple fest collapses and dies in Kochi

Nellyakkattu Mahadevan, a captive elephant, died on Friday after collapsing on the premises of the Thirunettoor Mahadeva temple at Maradu here. The elephant, aged around 55, was brought to the temple to be paraded as part of the temple festival.

It was not paraded after it showed some uneasiness. The elephant collapsed around 4 p.m. while being led to a lorry to be taken back to its caregivers. Though a veterinary doctor attended the elephant after it fell, it could not be revived.

“The elephant is owned by Tony Thomas from Poonjar and it has been in the custody of a family running an Ayurveda eye hospital for around 20 years.We had been monitoring it constantly,” Fen Antony, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Social Forestry department, Ernakulam, said. The cause of the death could be ascertained only after a post-mortem examination scheduled on Saturday, the official said. The elephant will be cremated at a facility of the Forest department near Malayattoor on Saturday.