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Subscribe to RSSA 2-year-old boy was killed and 25 others were injured Sunday morning when three elephants broke loose and ran through the famous Koodalmanikyam temple in Kerala, a southeastern state in India, according to media reports.
Sunday was the last day of a 10-day festival and the elephants were lined up to carry a deity to a holy bath before they ran amok, Gulfnews.com reported.
When policemen fired their guns in the air marking the beginning of the processional, Kannan, one of the elephants, became scared and freed himself from his mahouts, or elephant handlers, trumpeting and waiving his tusk. When the elephant started to run, so did two other nearby elephants, CNN-IBN reported.
The elephants frightened the crowd, sending people running for safety. During the melee, toddler Yadu Krishnana fell and was killed. The 25 others who were injured -- most of them during the stampede to get away from the elephant -- were hospitalized.
After half an hour, the mahouts were able to regain control of the elephants, Gulfnews.com reported.
Gulfnews.com reported that some have criticized the government for elephant-related injuries during the Hindu festival.
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Last week more than 50 people in nearby Thrissur were injured after an elephant on parade turned violent, according to Gulfnews.com.
Three years ago, an elephant at the Koodalmanikyam temple ran amok and killed three people. It is unclear whether that elephant was Kannan.
During the festival, elephants outfitted in ornate caparisons carry a deity in a procession to the holy bath of the deity, or arattu, according to Hindu.com.
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Do these backwards and uneducated people STILL not understand that firing a gun in 'celebration' is a stupid idea? Now they have to figure out how these animals that they protect and revere managed to kill a number of them while celebrating some 'deity's' bath day.
Out of curiosity, just what makes them "backwards and uneducated" in your opinion?
News?? What is the matter with you people. Who cares for this crap?
What? In my opinion no one should be making any animal do anything for man. In this case
he, (elephant) is a worker bee. He, (elephant/s) may or may not like his job. Until we have mutual respect of each other, this will continue. We are the stupid ones as it relates to animals hands down……We ae incredulous. Please save the elephant.
I have to agree with sandra in that while I understand they have rituals, I don't understand firing a gun when you have animals around who may not realize you aren't firing at them. I mean many times we are firing at them...why would anyone expect them to be calm about it?
The question I would ask isn't why an elephant would trample people in fear or anger when s/he is made to do things like this, but more like why not? I personally would be afraid if someone shot into the air near me and if I were the size of an elephant someone might get hurt whether I meant to or not.
No animal should be doing anything for a man? Are you nuts? How do you think these people get anything done? Besides they taste good.
http://www.salon.com/2010/07/05/us_iowa_parade_injuries/
The above link is about one death and several injuries when horses went out of control in a parade in Iowa in 2010.
I am trying to understand 'mathuin's' reasons for calling the people in India ' backwards and uneducated.' Was it because they used an Elephant for their ceremonial parade, as they have ritually done for thousands of years? Or because their skin color is different?
I was however gratified how much backlash he received from so many other posters! Clearly most
people aren't racist or anti-elephant.
Funny too to call them 'backwards and uneducated' when American companies quite happily send American jobs there. I am not saying all of India is one big brain-trust, but to call them ' backwards and uneducated' is like saying all Americans are 'loud mouthed redneck cowboy hicks married to desparate housewives.'
Indian civilization goes back 8000 years----no one cares what you think.Get it?
WOW....
When I first read the headline....
"ELEPHANTS RUN AMOK" I thought....
"WHY DID ROSIE O'DONNELL HAVE A FAMILY REUNION IN INDIA?"
Mathuin
Yah, they should reserve firing guns for real important things like drive-bys, stupid and uneducated stop the lecture we live in a backward society ,,what more examples??
You sir are 10 pounds of pus in a five pound bag.
Elephants that participate in religious processions in India have done it many times before as a rule. They seem unfazed by gunfire or firecrackers and seem quite used to the noise and commotion. Generally when domestic elephants become afraid they look to their mahouts for help. Obviously this was not the case.
It is not, for example, an old wives tale that elephants are terribly afraid of mice. They are. Ask the Mythbusters guys. Something like this could have set them off.
In addition is it not well known that adult male elephants undergo a strange phenomenon called "musth" where their testosterone shoots up by 60 times and strange secretions appear near their eyes. No one exactly knows why this is, but an elephant in musth is extremely difficult to control and are extremely aggressive, especially towards humans. During musth, mahouts generally keep them chained to trees and starve them so that no one gets hurt.
An annual bath festival, people celebrate some funny stuff. I guess in a country where indoor plumbing is a luxury that would be a big deal.
Oh yes, Chris. Much better to chain them to a tree and starve them. I am human and I'm pissed at people who chain up elephants, so I can see why an elephant would be a tad pissed since this period includes pain and other discomfort as well as pesky humans restraining them. How about we let them go be elephants? Oh yeah, I forgot we take their homes and treat them like crap. I'm not bashing Indians here...just making a general statement about how they are often treated. Can't imagine why elephants would be angry at humans.
Gotta get away from those religious nuts!!!!
it was Ramar's fault!
Elephants will be elephants
anyone that uses animals in any way be for a ceramony or what ever should know that different animals react differently to noise just like a human would. they need to stop using the guns and other loud sounds unless they know for sure that the elephant is going to remain calm, if not find one that is.better yet don't use the elephants use humans to carry your religous stuff.
I spoke to my daughter today on Mother's Day - she lives in Virginia I in Washington State and she told me this is the Age of Aqaurius
It is a spiritual age and people and animals are acting out strange behaviour
Now you read about Males adopting little males of their species - hence the baby white male bison brutally killed by morons but guarded by his father - and Jane Goodall's male gorilla guarding a baby male -
This usually does not happen in the animal kingdom - baby males are considered as competition to the herd
Point I'm trying to make is animals are sensing something that is not right and are rebelling - same as our society
Folks - just throwing out thoughts to ponder on - we shall see what comes of this - but frankly I always trust the animals
Barbara Adams Jackson.........Aquarius ? Really ? Please stand over there with the other religious airheads of all sects, you earned your membership.
Here's your sign......................
Barbara -
Just a few items.
The father of the white bison who was brutally killed for his pelt had died several months before the incident. The bison who stood over the corpse was his mother. Sadly, she was poisoned by the same idiots.
Paternal care (care by dads) is not common amongst mammals - though it does happen in a number of species (the canids, primates, etc). It is very common in the animal world, particularly in species where the females can lay eggs that either parent can incubate. In some species females provide no care to their young beyond the egg.
Lastly it is not at all unusual for animals to startle and if a very large animal startles bad things can happen. It is not clear from the article whether the boy was killed by the elephants or by humans rushing to get away from the elephants. That the mahoots got the animals back in control in a half an hour makes me think that this was not an elephant attacking after being angered, etc.
Please for your sake, learn a wee bit more about animals before you trust them.
I can't understand why the fishermen are fishing this lake in the first place? Hopefully they aren't eating the fish they catch........I've made it a personal fishing rule in my life to avoid fishing anywhere the water is yellow.
...waiving his tusks? Seriously?
Waving vs. Waiving
No? Come on msnbc...
In case everyone forgot - too bad about the kid.I've taken my kids to the circus- even had them sit on top of an elephant - Glad that elephant kept his cool.
I was witness to a similar tragedy at a "Golden Corral" all you can eatery,3 fat women stampeded at the salad bar when they discovered there was no more whipped cream for the fresh strawberrys . . . . . . .they finally had to put them down with a tranquilizer gun. That was a experiance I will not soon forget
@ modeltmenace dude...the BEST post of the year!!!
This is precisely why elephants should be hunted.
Because they get spooked when an idiot with a gun shoots off rounds randomly in the air? Give me a break. I don't care if they are hunted or not because I am a huge meat lover, but to reason why they sould be??? Yours makes no sense.
It is?
Another sensational headline on MSNBC. From the article I don't read where any of the elephants killed anyone. People were trampling each other. On the other hand, maybe Ganesh was displeased. (Thank you Homer and Apu!)
May I point out that the child died from falling, not because the elephant trampled or attacked him.
Also, in India, Elephants are respected and integral to many celebrarions, and have been for many years. Lastly, before banging on about elephant abuse in India, flap your lips in the direction of Africa, where entire herds are wiped out for their ivory.
had this happened in the U.S. the SWAT teams would have been called out and SHOT them to death!
India should learn from America. Here in America, we use animals for eating, hunting and sometime sexual pleasure. Stop using them during worship, that is barbaric.
I feel bad for those elephants they have to live in the filth those people made of their once pristine habitat.
When will they learn not to use Olympic sprinter elephants for their celebrations? They're conditioned to react that way at the sound of a starter's gun.
I cannot believe that not one person has brought up Obama yet. He surely had something to do with it???? Come on teapartyers, you are letting us all down.
poor elephants...
URG... I'm amazed that there are people who still believe an elephant can be controlled. How many more events turned deadly chaos will it take? Time for those intelligent animals to be left in the wild - no more tinkering, people!
here is a country with elephants running around killing people, kind of pimative to be, but the joke is that this country has nuclear weapons something is very wrong here and they use water buffalo for a means of transportation.
the joke's on you redneck.