What’s life like for the elephant that leads the Dussehra procession? | In Focus podcast

The Dussehra festivities are here, and so are Dussehra processions. In Mysore, like every year, this time too, the elephant Abhimanyu will carry the 750-kg Golden Howdah and lead the procession. Abhimanyu is 59 years old and this could be one of the last times he performs his annual duty. While people love temple elephants and pachyderms like Abhimanyu are an integral part of religious rituals, it is, nonetheless, a fact that elephants are wild animals, and their transition to life in captivity is rarely without distress. In this episode of InFocus, we look at the life trajectory of Abhimanyu, and the larger issues around human-elephant conflict in the context of captive elephants.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices