Bhubaneswar, Nov. 9: An elephant undergoing kunki training at Kumarkhunti within the Chandaka Dampara Wildlife Sanctuary on the outskirts of the city today killed its Assamese mahout.

The elephant threw Dillip Rabha, 52, the mahout, off its back and trampled him under its feet. The incident took place around 3pm. Kunki is a term in Assamese which refers to an elephant that prevents marauding herds from destroying crops and property.

Rabha is a tribal and his home is nearly 120km away from Guwahati. Forest officials could not find out the name of Rabha’s village as the elephant training service is outsourced through a Guwahati-based elephant expert.

Forest officials said the male elephant, named Shankar, was in mast condition and killed its driver after dropping him from its head near the training centre. The mahout had taken the elephant to a water body for a bath. Sources said the elephant, after killing the mahout, sat with the body and did not allow outsiders to go near the site.

A team of experts from Nandankanan Zoo were immediately called by the sanctuary authorities and they shot a tranquiliser at the animal around 6.30pm. The body of the mahout was retrieved around 7pm.

Forest officials said mast is a condition when testosterone (male hormone) levels increase suddenly in male elephants and they behave erratically and, at times, violently.

“In the case of Shankar, however, the testosterone level is high most of the time. It underwent tests at the College of Veterinary Sciences under the Odisha University of Agriculture Technology last week. Today perhaps the mahout failed to notice the mast condition of the elephant. It was a mere accident,” said Chandaka divisional forest officer Sibanarayan Mohapatra.

Shankar was among the four elephants undergoing training at the Kumarkhunti facility in Chandaka. The training centre opened two years ago to train elephants to manage rogue and wild elephants that harmed crops and human habitats. Shankar came to Kumarkhunti after it killed a person in Angul district a year ago.

Principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) J.D. Sharma said: “This was an unfortunate incident. As we were largely dependent on the trainers from Assam, this might have an adverse impact on the psychology of the local trainers as well. However, we will ensure that the mahouts are on alert so that such accidents can be prevented in future.”

The four elephants under going kunki training at Kumarkhunti are Jasoda, 21 and Shankar, 18, who came from Satkosia Tiger Reserve in Angul district last November. Earlier, Nandan, 28, and Rajkumar, 10, were undergoing training from the Assamese trainers. While Nandan was kept in confinement at the Nandankanan Zoo after he killed his mahout in 1997, the elephant came to the training centre on October 25, 2010. Following the training, its behaviour underwent a distinct change and it developed a love for the jungle.

Rajkumar came from the Similipal Biosphere Reserve and, according to forest department officials, both elephants had bonded well.