December 2, 2002: Narayanan, a mahout, is killed by his elephant while taking part in a temple procession near Kochi.

January 23, 2003: A tusker gores its handler, Gopalakrishnan Nair, to death in Kochi and then unleashes terror in the city.

February 2, 2003: Another elephant pulls down its mahout and crushes him to death.

Elephants in Kerala seem to be hitting back. Since December, there has been a spurt in incidents involving pachyderms on the loose terrorising neighbourhoods and attacking humans. That the episodes have taken place in the state's festival season is hardly a coincidence.

Temple festivals in Kerala run from December to April. The tuskers are made to take part in long processions. The participation of a large number of caparisoned elephants is a matter of pride for any organising committee and a jumbo can fetch anything from Rs 2,500 to Rs 25,000 per day.

The elephants have to march on tarred roads in high temperatures from one temple to another, usually without enough food or water. After the festival season, the tuskers are taken out for hard labour like pulling timber. Here they are beaten severely for any disobedience. Most mahouts believe that elephants have to be thrashed to keep them under control. "Elephants have to be beaten to make them obedient," says Guruvayur Krishnankutty, a seasoned mahout at the Guruvayur temple.

Such views are common despite tuskers being on Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. Domesticated elephants have the protection of the provisions of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1960. Beating or torturing an elephant, and depriving it of sufficient food, water or shelter are some of the activities recognised as cruelty. In spite of strict laws, stories of ill-treatment and cruelty being meted out to tuskers are quite common in Kerala.

Generally coming from poor families, most mahouts are ill-trained for their jobs. They begin by accompanying senior mahouts wherever they go with their elephants and become handlers in two or three years. "Anyone with a stick and hooked goad can become a mahout now," says Dr K.C. Panicker, 64, former professor of the Veterinary College in Mannoothy, Thrissur. Most handlers of domesticated elephants are a neglected lot working on meagre salaries. Alcoholism too is rampant among them.

Experts believe trained mahouts can bring down the number of incidents involving elephants on the rampage. Particularly important is to restrain tuskers under musth (elephant in a state of frenzy). A physiological phenomenon seen in all adult male elephants, the musth-which lasts for two-three months-is characterised by aggressive behaviour and heightened sexual activity. In Kerala, domesticated tuskers under musth are kept in chains and prevented from having sex. The hampering of a natural physical process is the most probable reason for the aggressive behaviour in elephants.

Mahouts keep away from the tuskers in musth but the chance to make money at the temple festivals is often difficult to resist. For elephants taken out to temples before the musth is over, even a slight provocation is enough to turn them wild. "It is the greed of the owners and the mahouts that causes the mishaps," says Panicker. Once the elephant becomes wild, the only option left is to call in experts who can shoot it with a tranquilliser. But by the time doctors reach the spot, it is usually too late to save the life of the mahout at the receiving end of his tusker's anger.

—-Jacob George