An Elephantine Failure
Prayers came late for Sidda, a 35-year-old bull Indian elephant, Elephas maximus indicus, who fell into an open ditch while fleeing an angry mob of villagers trying to protect their crops from repeated elephant invasions. As his giant body lay limp amidst remorseful villagers singing hymns, burning incense and offering garlands of yellow chrysanthemum and purple crossandra to the body, Sidda became another addition to the long list of victims of increasing negative human-elephant interactions in Karnataka, an Indian state that harbours the highest number of elephants in the country.
While villagers of Dodderi, weary from tilling the rich brown earth for another crop under expectant monsoon clouds, settled around their television sets to watch evening family soaps, a hungry elephant walked into their cornfields cultivated on an ancient elephant migration path connecting the Savandurga State Forest with the Bannerghatta National Park on the outskirts of Bangalore.
Enraged villagers, armed with sticks, batons and firecrackers, gathered in the fading light of the day to chase the elephant with the single resolve of saving their standing crops. In the melee that ensued, the frightened elephant fell into an open ditch breaking his right forelimb, hurting his torso and causing a tear in his trunk.
At the break of dawn, villagers' relief at saving their crop turned to sorrow when they learnt that the elephant who had sustained injuries was their beloved Sidda with whom they had established an uneasy yet peaceful coexistence on the fringes of the dwindling forest.
Sidda limped his way to the backwaters of the Manchenbele Dam and sought succour from the pain by standing long hours in the warm waters under rolling hills dotted with shrubs and inhabited by peacocks. Villagers rallied with members of the forest department, veterinarians, and volunteers from non-governmental organisations to provide support to their attempts at curing the giant in pain.
On a wintry December night, as the mist enveloped the valley where Sidda was being cared for, his resilient battle for survival was ended by sepsis caused by an open wound that had festered.
Please be advised the following project contains distressing images that may not be suitable for all audiences.
