Mysuru Dasara's centrepiece jumbo Arjuna killed by wild tusker
Bengaluru, Dec 4: The majestic elephant Arjuna, who carried the golden 'howdah' during the famous Mysuru Dasara procession, died in a fight with a wild tusker during a capture operation in Karnataka's Hassan district on Monday, officials said.
Sixty four-year-old Arjuna, who served the forest department for almost 52 years and had participated in many elephant capture operations, died near Yeslur in Sakaleshpur, they said.
According to forest officials, the elephant capture operation was carried out after a number of human deaths were reported in Hassan and Chikkamagaluru belt.
Owing to the pressure from the locals to tame the wild elephants, an operation was launched in the Hassan district's in Belur taluk on November 24, they said.
"Five elephants were captured from November 24-30, of which three have been left in other forest areas after fixing radio collars on them. Two of the female elephants which were also darted were radio collared and reunited with their families. All these five elephants are being monitored," said Kumar Pushkar, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife).
"Today, the operation shifted from Belur to Yeslur where we have some troubling elephants, therefore we wanted to capture and place radio collars on them so that we could note their movement and then alert the people accordingly. But unfortunately, we lost our best elephant Arjuna in a fight. He was inducted into the forest department in 1972 and served us for almost 52 years," Pushkar added.
Arjuna carried the 750-kg 'howdah' during the Dasara procession in Mysuru eight times until 2019.
Taking to microblogging site X', Chief Minister Siddaramaiah expressed grief over the death of the famed elephant.
"It was sad to hear the demise of Arjuna', the elephant who was loved by the people and who was the centrepiece of the historic Mysuru Dasara, Jambu Sawari (parade of caparisoned elephants) for eight years successfully," he said in the post in Kannada.
"Arjuna, who served mother Chamundeshwari by carrying a golden howdah weighing exactly 750 kg, marching with utmost restraint, died in a fight with wild elephant. Arjuna walking majestically among millions of people will forever remain in the minds of Kannadigas like me," his post added.
Karnataka Environment and Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre expressed grief over the death of Arjuna, saying it was very unfortunate that the famed elephant died after being attacked by a rogue tusker.
"The rouge elephant attacked Arjuna and hit him with its tusks, causing his death," Khandre said in a statement.
"Even after the staff opened fire in the air, the tusker attacked the tamed elephant. While the other three tamed elephant withdrew, Arjuna fought alone. The veterinarian and the mahout somehow escaped," he added.
Khandre said the forest officials have fixed radio collars on five wild elephants so far.
ಐತಿಹಾಸಿಕ ಮೈಸೂರು ದಸರಾದ ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಬಿಂದುವಾದ ಜಂಬೂಸವಾರಿಯನ್ನು ಎಂಟು ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಕಾಲ ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಯಶಸ್ವಿಯಾಗಿ ನಡೆಸಿಕೊಟ್ಟು ಜನರ ಪ್ರೀತಿಪಾತ್ರವಾಗಿದ್ದ ಆನೆ ‘ಅರ್ಜುನ’ ಇನ್ನಿಲ್ಲ ಎಂಬ ಸುದ್ದಿ ಕೇಳಿ ನೋವಾಯಿತು.
— CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) December 4, 2023
ಬರೋಬ್ಬರಿ 750 ಕೆ.ಜಿ ತೂಕದ ಚಿನ್ನದ ಅಂಬಾರಿ ಹೊತ್ತು, ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಸಂಯಮದಿಂದ ಮೆರವಣಿಗೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಸಾಗುವ ಮೂಲಕ ತಾಯಿ ಚಾಮುಂಡೇಶ್ವರಿಯ… pic.twitter.com/RA2cJka6kH
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
