Exclusive | Marthanda’s Final Battle Ends After Severe Injuries and Massive Blood Loss

Marthanda fought through the night before succumbing to injuries.

Madikeri: What began as a sudden clash between two elephants at the Dubare Elephant Camp in Kodagu in Karnataka ended in a prolonged and painful struggle for survival for Marthanda, a 53-year-old makhna elephant once feared across Hassan district as the notorious “paddy raider.”

The Kodagu Express spoke to Forest Department officials and gathered exclusive details about the sequence of events that led to Marthanda’s death. The violent encounter unfolded on Monday morning near the elephant bathing area on the banks of the Cauvery river, where tourists had gathered to watch the camp elephants. During the chaos, Marthanda suffered multiple stab injuries after another elephant attacked him with its tusks. The incident also claimed the life of a woman tourist who was trapped beneath the elephant during the commotion.

Forest staff and mahouts rushed to rescue the severely wounded elephant from the river as blood flowed into the muddy water. Officials initially believed Marthanda had sustained only a few injuries. However, a detailed examination later revealed the extent of the trauma:at least seven deep puncture wounds across the abdomen and lower body, along with severe injuries to the ears and reproductive organs.

Veterinarians began emergency treatment immediately, administering fluids, antibiotics and supportive care through the night, a forest department source told The Kodagu Express. According to forest official sources, Marthanda had lost an enormous quantity of blood. Weighing around 4,500 kg, the elephant was estimated to have nearly 350 litres of blood in its body, of which close to 60 to 70 litres may have been lost due to internal and external bleeding.

Doctors reportedly warned that the elephant’s condition was critical from the outset. Some wounds were so deep that veterinarians could insert an entire arm into the injured tissue while assessing the damage. Internal injuries had ruptured portions of the intestine and badly damaged the stomach and bladder, triggering massive haemorrhage and shock, official sources said.

Despite the severe pain, Marthanda managed to remain standing until early Tuesday morning. But his condition rapidly worsened, and by around 7 a.m ., the elephant collapsed. Sources said the jumbo later succumbed to severe thoracic and abdominal trauma combined with hypovolaemic shock caused by extensive blood loss.

For many forest personnel at Dubare, Marthanda’s death was more than the loss of a camp elephant. It marked the tragic end of an animal that had once roamed Karnataka’s forests as one of the State’s most well-known conflict elephants before eventually spending its final years in captivity.

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