Elephant which died at Ramapura camp in Bandipur suffered major heart attack, liver damage

CHAMARAJANAGAR: A 35-year-old healthy male elephant, known as Trijunction King or Rice King, died after a major cardiac arrest at the Ramapura camp in Bandipur tiger reserve, the postmortem has revealed.

The elephant had suddenly collapsed and died on Wednesday, giving rise to much suspicion. However, the postmortem report has revealed that the elephant had suffered a sudden, major heart attack. Not only that, the severity of the heart attack was three times more than a normal heart attack, and its liver was also damaged.

The elephant was kept in a kraal for a few months to tame it.

Environmentalists had raised questions about the sudden death of the elephant. It used to roam the forests of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and hence was known as Trijunction King. The jumbo would also break into lonely houses and steal rice. Hence, it was also called ‘rice king’.

The elephant was caught near Elachetty village in Bandipur five months ago and was shifted to the Ramapura camp in Bandipur following complaints from villager. The elephant was kept in a kraal for more than three months and was released only recently.