The outsize legacy of Kaziranga’s mahouts and their elephants
For generations, the highly intelligent mammals and their trainers have been crucial to the reserve’s operations, from patrolling to surveys and relief work.
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On a sweltering morning in May 2004, a team of forest officials and veterinarians headed to a paddy field in Diphlu Pothar, a village near the Agoratoli range of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, in Assam’s Golaghat district. Their mission: to tranquilise a large adult tigress. The tigress, along with two cubs, had recently entered the village and had attacked cattle. A day earlier, the officials had managed to tranquilise the two cubs and release them into the jungle. Now, the tigress remained.
What happened next took the entire team by surprise.
As they were scouting the area, atop elephants, the tigress suddenly emerged from the field and leapt at one of the two elephants carrying the officials. Satyaban Pegu, a 25-year-old mahout sitting on the elephant named Joymala, was mauled and injured by the tigress.
“I was sitting on the elephant with the mahout [Satyaban] and I fell off. Generally, elephants are scared of tigers and try to flee when they see one. But in this case, Joymala showed great courage and charged towards the tigress. The elephant also tried to pin down the big cat. Eventually, the tigress didn’t attack anyone else and went away. The elephant played a very important role in...
