Bhogeshwara: 76-year-old elephant with long tusks dies

Mysuru: The wild elephant nicknamed ‘Bhogeshwara’, which boasted some of the longest tusks ever seen, has died at the ripe age of 76 due to illness.

Mostly spotted in the Kabini backwaters, Bhogeshwara looked majestic with an elegant gait and a pair of magnificent tusks around 4-feet in length. Its rounded tusks reached almost to the ground. However, the tusker found it difficult to feed as the tusks overlapped each other.

It is rare to see elephants with long tusks in the Bandipur and Nagarahole – courtesy of the notorious poacher Veerappan who prowled these forests. During the 1980’s and 90’s the ivory trade had been rampant and the poacher had killed many elephants with longer tusks for profits.

Such was the terror that only about 7 male elephants with long tusks over the age of 65 survive in the Neelgiris today. Bhogeshwara was one of the few elephants that survived the period.

Bhogeshwara moved 60 to 70 km every day and did not remain in one place for a long time.