39-year-old elephant known to carry howdah for Mysuru dussehra dies

Mysuru: Drona, a 39-year-old male tusker known for its contribution in carrying the Mysuru dussehra’s howdah collapsed to death in Karnataka’s Nagarhole National Park on April 27.

A veterinarian said that the elephant weighing 3,900 kgs was taken to a waterhole after it showed signs of illness and collapsed moments later.

Doctors are yet to conduct an autopsy on the pachyderm to establish the cause of death. It’s also possible that the tusker was unwell, and help was not called for in time, leading to its sudden demise.

Drona had carried the Mysuru Dussehra’s howdah twice in the procession that starts from the Amba Vilas Palace and winds for 5 kilometres through the city.  The elephant procession is part of convoy, with 15 elephants being brought from their home in an elephant camp in the forests of Nagarahole to the city.

The main attraction to the festival is the grandeur in which the elephants are decorated.