Tusker suffers 'teething' pain

Chhatbir (Patiala), Jun 25 (UNI) It's not just an aching tooth, its an elephantine toothache.

The pristine ivory that imparts Raj Mangal the majestic look, is ironically proving a bane for the tusker at the Chhatbir Zoo the biggest Zoological Park in northern India.

The two-foot long right tusk of this 50-year-old elephant, is giving the pachyderm sleepless nights, as he finds it difficult to move his trunk freely with the inward growing tusk causing obstruction.

The teething trauma of the Zoo's only bull elephant has forced the authorities to resort to the drastic measure of performing an operation to cut down both his tusks to half length next week.

''The tusks are giving him a lot of trouble, especially the right one which is giving him pain somewhere inside his mouth,'' said Akhtar Khan, the 'mahaut' taking care of Raj Mangal for the last nine years here.

Both the tusks have to be cut short to enable Raj Mangal to move his trunk freely and to rest his head comfortably on the ground for a sound sleep, he said.

The doctors of Ludhiana-based Guru Angad Dev Veterinary Sciences University, along with the zoo's veterinary physician, would carry out the delicate operation to ''cut the tusks with the saw'' without damaging the nerve-ends, on June 30.

''Such an initiative needs a nod from the Central Zoological Authority, which has been granted, in view of the pathetic condition of the elephant,'' Chhatbir Zoo's Field Director Dharmender Sharma told UNI.

Raj Mangal has some 40 years more to live as per the average age 90-95 years of an elephant in captivity, he said.

The beast, who now rules his small world in the zoo with two mates - 25-year-old Hema and 40-year-old Parvati -- had been ordered to be shot dead by the Rohtak district administration ten years ago, after he went berserk and killed a child.

''This elephant was saved from being shot dead by environmentalist Maneka Gandhi, in 1996 but the Delhi Zoo had refused to take in the murderous animal,'' explained the zoo's forester Harpal Singh. Raj Mangal found shelter in this zoo in 1997, he said.

According to mahaut Akhtar Khan, who was able to tame the rogue elephant, Raj Mangal still goes berserk as the winters set in, and has to be chained, sometimes for two-three months.

''God willing, Raj Mangal will soon be a proud father as Hema is believed to be pregnant. However, the Zoo authorities will declare this only after confirmation from the visiting veterinary doctors on June 30,'' the mahaut said.

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