Festivals in India are very vibrant and often have parades several kilometers long. It’s common to have decorated elephants, orchestra music and fireworks, but sometimes they don’t mix very well.
One of the elephants participating in a temple festival in a 6-mile (10 km) long parade went on a rampage. He suddenly became aggressive and started destroying vehicles.
Even the elephant’s mahouts (elephant keepers) sitting on his back couldn’t do anything to stop him. During his four hour fit of rage he destroyed at least twenty scooters, rickshaws, vans and mini trucks, before being brought under control by animal squad personnel.
One of the people on the streets said: “The elephants were walking just outside the temple when suddenly the elephant started running.” Kumar Mangalam, who just escaped the raging elephant told the news, “Suddenly, the whole atmosphere of merriment turned into chaos.”
In fact it’s not the first time an elephant has gone on a rampage during a parade in India — and it probably won’t be the last… Maybe we should rethink the participation of these sensitive and intelligent creatures in crowded festivals.