Dudhwa's darling Batalik elephant is no more

Once wildly popular among tourists for his pranks, 19-year-old Batalik, an elephant at Dudhwa national park, is no more, forest officials said.

Multiple-organ failure due to severe dehydration was described to be the reason behind the death of the animal, which died on June 15 evening at Salukapur, on the day Dudhwa national park was closed to tourists till November 15.

Field Director, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR), Ramesh Pandey while expressing grief over the tusker's demise, told PTI, "Batalik had entered into a state of 'musth' (stimulated to mate) and gone beyond the control of his mahout. To control the elephant, which had even charged at his mahout, a mild dose of sedative was administered and he was kept at Salukapur."
Asked about the post-mortem findings, Pandey said he would "comment only after receiving a copy of the post-mortem report."