Elephant kiss of death | Bangkok Post: learning

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Elephant in a frenzy of lust (musth) goes crazy, kills owner, then goes crazy again, chases driver, collapses, dies from heart failure.

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Elephant's lust leads to demise

A lustful male elephant seeking a mate went on a rampage and attacked its owner then collapsed from heart failure and died

Nucharee Rakrun

Male elephant Sidor Plaiwan collapsed and died from heart failure after chasing its mahout in Nakhon Si Thammarat province on Saturday. The mahout was unhurt. The 25-year-old jumbo killed its previous owner when it went berserk last month.

The bizarre incident happened in Nakhon Si Thammarat province.

The 25-year-old elephant, Sidor Plaiwan, which had killed its previous owner while also in a frenzy of lust, died of heart failure on Saturday night after chasing its owner along a hill. The elephant was carrying logs under its trunk at the time.

The elephant's owner and mahout, Somchai Yoothongkham, said he bought Sidor for 450,000 baht last month from relatives of Pichit Phocha who was killed by Sidor when it became agitated, after seeking a partner to mate with but without success.

Sidor attacked Pichit in Nakhon Si Thammarat's Chawang district on Feb 19.

Mr Somchai later took the elephant to Phrommakhiri district to work.

As the elephant showed no signs of agitation, he took it to haul rubber logs in a forest behind a village in tambon Thonhong on Saturday.

After hauling three logs, the elephant went berserk and tried to attack him, Mr Somchai said. He fled along a steep hill. The jumbo, with logs under its trunk, ran after him and later collapsed.

Somchai alerted veterinarian Pornpirom Fungtrakul to help his animal.

The vet injected the elephant with pain-relief medicine and saline solution to boost its energy. The elephant's condition gradually improved. However, its condition later deteriorated before it collapsed again and died.

Mr Pornpirom said the elephant died of heart failure.

(Source: Bangkok Post, Elephant's lust leads to demise, A lustful male elephant seeking a mate went on a rampage and attacked its owner then collapsed from heart failure and died, Nucharee Rakrun, link)

Elephant Vocabulary

elephant - the largest living land animals on earth, typically lives for 50 to 70 years, the oldest recorded elephant lived for 82 years, the largest elephant ever recorded was shot in Angola in 1955 and weighed 10,900 kg (See Wikipedia)

musth - a period of time when elephants become very dangerous and violent from chemicals in their body and may try to kill humans, "is a periodic condition in bull elephants, characterized by highly aggressive behavior, accompanied by a large rise in reproductive hormones - testosterone levels in an elephant in musth can be as much as 60 times greater than in the same elephant at other times, elephants on musth in India "are tied to a strong tree, or two strong trees, and denied food and water, or put on a starvation diet, for several days, after which the musth passes. Mahouts are often able to greatly shorten the duration of their elephants' musth, typically to five to eight days; xylazine is also used. Another method is to chain the elephant separately for nearly a month and give it special medicinal food. During this time, the elephant is not used for work or religious processions" (See Wikipedia)

elephant in musth

mate (verb) - when an animal has sex with another animal  
mate (noun) - the other animal (that an animal has sex with)

lust (noun)  - the emotional force that that makes a person think about having sex with someone (See Wikipedia)
lustful (adjective) - having strong sexual desires เต็มไปด้วยตัณหา,ละโมบ
lustful male - a male with strong sexual desire
lustful male seeking a mate

demise - the ending or death of something ความตาย
rampage - to behave in an uncontrolled, violent way อาละวาด
heart failure - the inability of the heart to supply enough blood to meet the needs of the body which can lead to death  (See Wikipedia)
the elephant died of heart failure.
collapse - fall down suddenly ล้ม ทิ้งตัวลง
collapse from heart failure

Elephant's lust leads to demise. A lustful male elephant seeking a mate went on a rampage and attacked its owner then collapsed from heart failure and died.

mahout - a person who drives an elephant (See Wikipedia)
jumbo - an elephant (the adjective jumbo means very large)
berserk - to become violent and uncontrolled because you are very angry
bizarre - strange and difficult to understand and explain
incident - an unpleasant event

Male elephant Sidor Plaiwan collapsed and died from heart failure after chasing its mahout in Nakhon Si Thammarat province on Saturday. The mahout was unhurt. The 25-year-old jumbo killed its previous owner when it went berserk last month. The bizarre incident happened in Nakhon Si Thammarat province.

frenzy - out of control activity or emotion
frenzy of lust - sexual desire that is out of control
trunk - the very long nose of an elephant that it uses to lift food and water to its mouth

The 25-year-old elephant, Sidor Plaiwan, which had killed its previous owner while also in a frenzy of lust, died of heart failure on Saturday night after chasing its owner along a hill. The elephant was carrying logs under its trunk at the time.

The elephant's owner and mahout, Somchai Yoothongkham, said he bought Sidor for 450,000 baht last month from relatives of Pichit Phocha who was killed by Sidor when it became agitated, after seeking a partner to mate with but without success.

Sidor attacked Pichit in Nakhon Si Thammarat's Chawang district on Feb 19.

Mr Somchai later took the elephant to Phrommakhiri district to work.

agitation - the feeling of being upset, nervous or worried about something 
signs of agitation - when you looked at them, you could see they were upset
showed no signs of agitation
haul - to pull something heavy slowly and with difficulty ลาก
haul rubber logs
fled -  ran away from a place หนี
steep - rising quickly and difficult to climb ที่สูงชัน และปีนขึ้นยาก
steep hill
fled along a steep hill

As the elephant showed no signs of agitation, he took it to haul rubber logs in a forest behind a village in tambon Thonhong on Saturday.  After hauling three logs, the elephant went berserk and tried to attack him, Mr Somchai said. He fled along a steep hill. The jumbo, with logs under its trunk, ran after him and later collapsed.

boost - to increase; to strengthen เพิ่ม; ทำให้มีกำลังมากขึ้น
boost energy - increase energy
alert (verb) - telling someone about a dangerous thing, warning เตือน,  ทำให้ตระหนักถึงภัย
veterinarian - a person with a medical degree trained to take care of the health of animals สัตวแพทย์
vet - Short word for "veterinarian"
relief - help for improving a bad physical condition or a bad situation การผ่อนคลาย, การบรรเทา
pain-relief - improving a painful condition (reduces pain)
pain-relief medicine - medicine that reduces pain
saline solution - water and salt (sodium chloride) given to people who are low on this in their blood, for example during heart failure (See Wikipedia)
inject medicine - put medicine into blood veins with needle and syringe
inject saline solution  
boost its energy - give more energy and power

The elephant's condition gradually improved
deteriorated - became worse ทรุดโทรม, เสื่อมโทรม, เลวลง, ชำรุด
its condition later deteriorated before it collapsed again and died.
the elephant died of heart failure.

Somchai alerted veterinarian Pornpirom Fungtrakul to help his animal. The vet injected the elephant with pain-relief medicine and saline solution to boost its energy. The elephant's condition gradually improved. However, its condition later deteriorated before it collapsed again and died. Mr Pornpirom said the elephant died of heart failure.

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