Lucknow, Nov. 29: Mamta has gone where Sabitri had almost three months back — into hiding with her lover.

The 16-year-old elephant fell for a tall, dark and handsome tusker’s charms in Dehra Dun’s Rajaji National Park on Tuesday, just the way 20-year-old Sabitri had broken free from her Olympic Circus tent in Bengal’s Ranigunj to escape to the jungles with a 26-year-old hunk.

“Mamta has eloped with a tusker,” said park director Girija Shanker Pande, who was told by his forest guards that they had seen her roam around with a partner.

Mamta was one of the three female elephants — the other two being Ragini and Radha — brought from Delhi about a month ago for safari training at the 821sqkm enclave, well known for its herd of Asiatic elephants.

A park employee who witnessed the bloke’s charm offensive said there was little he and his colleagues could do to stop the escape. “The tusker approached all three elephants. We couldn’t do much about his advances as he was very strong and could crush us,” he said.

The guards had appeared similarly helpless in tearing away Sabitri from her lover in the jungles of Bankura. Her circus mahout cajoled her back in the forest over a week later, but only after the pair had had a good time.

“He (the tusker) must have lured Mamta with his gait and trumpet,” Pande speculated. Male elephants impress potential mates with their gait and if that doesn’t work, let out sounds of courtship, wildlife experts said.

Apparently, Ragini and Radha were also serenaded but unimpressed by the tusker’s guile, they returned to their camps. “Four teams are looking for the couple,” Pande said.

Park authorities believe it was loneliness that drove Mamta to her partner. The officials believe exposing them to male company at the park will keep them from embracing a stranger.

“I believe both Sabitri and Mamta longed for male company in the circus and the park. Their love tales are not figment of human imagination. The male elephants are extremely possessive of their partners,” said R.K. Singh, a retired forest officer who had served in Uttar Pradesh.

The immediate concerns are less romantic, though. Mamta’s vanishing act has left behind worries about the safari rides, the primary source of income for Rajaji park.

The disappearance has also saddled Raja, the only elephant left at the park for tourist rides after the death of 80-year-old Arundhati two months back, with extra burden.

As winter sets in and the visitors keep pouring in, the park authorities were keen to give the overworked Raja some relief.