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Mudumalai Tiger Reserve officials paid floral tribute to 58-year-old Magna elephant, who was working as a government employee till last year and passed away.
Vidhya, Deputy Director, Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, said, "The Magna Elephant was captured in 1998 and fondly named after its doctor Dr Krishnamurthy. This elephant had been in the camp ever since Kumki operations that happened in and around Mudumalai. It has been used in all kinds of operations. The elephant retired last year at the age of 58. After that, due to ailing health conditions, its health deteriorated. It breathed its last yesterday." She further said that the forest officials have given a very befitting farewell to the well-trained and calm elephant. The elephant was buried in the Mudumalai forest area. Looking at its history, it was a predatory elephant in Kerala before 1998. It had attacked and killed around 23 people in Kerala. Then the Kerala Chief Wildlife Warden had ordered to shoot and capture the elephant. But that day, the elephant entered the Gudalur Forest Reserve in Tamil Nadu and killed two people. The Tamil Nadu chief Wildlife Warden had issued an order to capture the elephant by administering anaesthesia. Based on that, a veterinarian named Dr Krishnamurthy who was working at Theppakkadu Elephant Camp at that time, injected the elephant with anesthetic and captured it at Vachikoli on July 12, 1998. When caught, the elephant had many injuries all over its body. Dr Krishnamurthy gave all treatment to the elephant and the elephant was named Murthy after him. The ferocious elephant came to Mudumalai Elephant Camp and was tamed here. For the past one year, the elephant's physical condition had deteriorated due to old age. (ANI)
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