The Dasara procession, which marks the finale of the 10-day celebrations, began in Shivamogga on Monday with a sense of uncertainty as one of the elephants had given birth the previous night. The incident left officers of Shivamogga City Corporation and the Forest Department officers, who had brought the elephants from Sakrebail elephant camp near here, in shock.
Nethravathi, 25, gave birth to a female calf around 10.30 p.m on Monday on Vasavi School grounds, where arrangements were made for the elephants’ stay during the festival. The officers of the elephant camp and the mahouts had no clue about the pregnancy. The elephant was made to take part in the rehearsal for three days, as they had failed to make out that the animal was pregnant.
Both the calf and mother were healthy, and the officers, following the advice of veterinarian Vinay S., shifted both to the camp by Tuesday morning. Then, the officers and elected representatives held a meeting on how to conduct Jamboo Savari in the absence of one of the elephants.
The corporation had sought three elephants for the procession. The Forest Department had sent Sagar, a male, and two females, Hemavathi and Nethravathi. Sagar was expected to carry the howdah.
The meeting attended by Shivamogga MLA S.N. Channabasappa, Mayor S. Shivakumar, senior officers of the Forest Department, and the city corporation decided to carry the silver howdah with the idol of goddess Chamundeshwari on a specially designed vehicle rather than an elephant. The MLA said they arrived at this decision because one of the animals had given birth.
Meanwhile, many people wondered how the officers and caretakers of the elephants did not realise that the animal was pregnant.
Vinay S., who was seriously injured in an elephant attack during an elephant capturing operation in Davangere district, said that it was difficult to understand if it was pregnant going by physical appearance. Moreover, he had been on medical leave for several days. Prasanna Krishna Patagar, DCF (Wildlife), maintained that Nethravathi was one of the animals chosen by a team of officials a couple of months ago for Mysuru Dasara as well. “At that time, a medical examination was conducted, but there were no indications of pregnancy. Later, none of the elephants from Sakrebail were sent to Mysuru, as the same elephants were required for Shivamogga Dasara”, he said.
