An elephant in chains at Kaziranga. Picture by Manas Paran

Kohora (Kaziranga), Feb. 13: Writer and conservationist Mark Shand calls them ?dignified animals?, but two incidents coinciding with the Kaziranga National Park centennial have proved that elephants can be unpredictable, too.

A mahout was yesterday trampled by his elephant without any provocation at the mahout village in Bosagaon, near the park. The victim, 35-year-old Kiminal Kaju, was dead before he could be taken to a hospital in the nearest town, Bokakhat. He was the second mahout to be killed by a trained elephant at the Kaziranga National Park within a week.

Neck-deep in water with his elephant Chiradoi, fellow mahout Arnel Balu today said: ?These elephants are being irritated beyond their tolerance. Elephants are very gentle, but can be very dangerous when pushed too far.?

Though bathing an elephant is a regular job for a mahout, Arnel appeared extra careful with Chiradoi, washing her body and trunk with the gentleness of a mother giving her baby a bath.

?There,? he said, pointing to a field where several elephants and calves were munching on piles of banana plants. ?That is where the elephant attacked the mahout.?

Everybody who witnessed it said there was no apparent reason for the elephant to attack Kiminal.

Ironically, the incident coincided with the start of the Elephant Festival, an annual event that showcases the efforts being made for conservation of the giant species.

The Kaziranga centenary celebration committee cancelled a football match involving elephants after animal rights activists, including Maneka Gandhi?s People for Animals and the global People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), cried ?cruelty?.

Nearly 50 privately-owned elephants have been brought to join the forest department?s retinue of 50 and entertain and ferry visitors within Kaziranga.

Lakhimai, the elephant that killed Kiminal, was brought from nearby Badulipar. Another elephant with the same name was requisitioned from Dergaon.

For days together, the elephants have been huddling in the field near the mahout village, their front feet chained. Dergaon-based Munin Bora, who owns an elephant, said the elephants had to be chained because ?they are new to this place?.

Close to the mahout village is the parasailing ground, which is chock-a-block with vehicles and visitors. ?We have seen people throwing sticks and stones at the elephants...just for fun,? said Toseswar Bora, a forest guard.

Shand, a self-confessed elephant lover and Kaziranga?s international brand ambassador, dismissed the suggestion that elephants were being tortured or put under stress. ?They are dangerous only when they are bored,? he told The Telegraph.

Kaziranga National Park director N.K. Vasu, too, denied that the elephants were under any kind of stress. ?We have not forced any of the elephant owners to come here. They have come on their own. This entire programme is for their benefit only. Elephant management is an art,? he said.