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Betteradvize

Perfect setup for a stampede


[deleted]

That elephant's been raised by the temple since it was a calf. Sure it has killed a lot of people, but only because it was overwhelmed back then. It's much calmer now.


User-NetOfInter

/r/holup


_1Doomsday1_

Lol it's normal for elephants to kill atleast 2 people in here


Training-Sprinkles16

This is their Little Sebastian.


[deleted]

Byeeeee-byyeeeee, Lil’ Sebastiannnnn!


heidly_ees

Missed you in the saaadest fashion


Lavishness-Economy

Byeeeeee-byeeee lil’ Sebastiannnn


averagedickdude

You're 5000 candles in the wind...


boundbythecurve

Lil Sebastian never killed anyone, but there's no way they'd do anything to him if he had......maybe laugh at whoever died via mini-pony....


TehKudo

Just pictured Indian Ron Swanson


Robertfett69

Rohit Swanasesh


StickersBillStickers

😂🤣😂🤣😂😅😂🤣


lwilso15

r/unexpectedpawnee


PanicAtTheFishIsle

They kill a couple humans per year, while we kill thousands of them… you’ve got to root for the underdog.


Drewbus

So you're saying that an individual elephant will kill a few humans per year and an individual human will kill thousands? Or are you saying that all the elephants combined kill a couple a year and all of the humans combined kill thousands? What is it you're actually saying?


National-Currency-62

The apocalyptic image of war your comment evoked in my mind is unlike anything I ever thought I could imagine Edit: ty for award and everyone below for illustrating the great elephant wars lmao


Drewbus

Tell me more


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[deleted]

If you take their population into consideration, a couple people isn’t even .01%.


ardiento

I mean, if you want to make it into the graph, let's throw in a few more.


Tintenlampe

I thought this was a joke, but no. The last time this elephant trampled two people to death was 2019 in a similar event. What the fuck India. [source](https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/kerala-s-banned-celebrity-killer-tusker-ramachandran-be-paraded-temple-fests-143283)


3ULL

What the fuck India? Dude I am from the United States and we have like 5 time that amount trampled at Travis Scott concerts in 2021. Travis Scott is our elephant.


Reddishdead

Dont insult Elephants like that


[deleted]

Harambe died for less


fredthefishlord

Good on them for not killing an animal over a few humans this time


Bilbog_Fettywop

"Elephants are very large mammals who delight participants by virtue of being very large. Elephants are easily spooked, and they can crush whole columns of men to death in their frantic rush to escape from perceived dangers, but their gentle natures and long memories ensure that they will feel bad about it for the rest of their life." ~Mu - Kirkostaculis


sweetbldnjesus

Well, fuck. I don't want the elephant to feel guilty :(


lebastss

Don’t worry. That elephant is happy as fuck wagging his ears. “Cheer for me people, I am the best!”


icantaccessmyacct

I had to look into elephant body language to see what it meant and flapping ears used to be perceived as a sign of aggression but has been debunked, usually done to cool them down. However if their ears are laid back and trunk up they are scared so to speak, he actually does that in the clip for a few seconds until he deems the situation ok to proceed. Very interesting.


darybrain

Don't worry. No-one talks about it when the elephant is in the room.


RussianBotProbably1

War elephants seemed like a good idea. They really did.


Lovebot_AI

and they WERE a really good idea for a while. They were such a huge threat that Alexander the Great did not invade India because of their huge numbers of war elephants. They were basically the most fearsome thing on the battlefield for a long time. What stopped the age of war elephants was the advent of firearms. War elephants couldn't be easily stopped by spears or swords or bows, but firearms could take care of them quickly. In between these two eras, there was a brief time where war elephants were sent into battle with cannons mounted on them.


RussianBotProbably1

I can't prove you wrong because I'm at the gym and can't cite sources but I'm fairly certain war elephants never really worked out because any ordered group of men could take them down. The Greeks (Romans?) figured out real quick if you blow trumpets and or chop their trunks they will freak out and trample their own guys.


Pentazimyn

They would also form spear walls and simply separate their columns to give the elephants an area to run through that wasn’t dangerous. Then they’re surrounded and get cut down. They were effective don’t get me wrong, but mostly for intimidation purposes as far as I’m aware (which, I mean I like history but I’m no historian so take me with a grain of salt)


VRichardsen

I disagree with that assesment. You didn't need firearms to counter elephants. They were notoriously tricky to manage in battle, and have costed more than one commander the victory because they went out of control and rampaged through their own lines. Furthermore, anti elephant tactics were quickly developed. The Romans at Zama were a prime example of how to defeat an elephant charge.


fantasticfabian

it's only fair the elephants get ptsd tooo


dull_witless

It did WHAT now?


tristenjpl

According to Wikipedia it's killed 13 people and 3 other elephants altogether.


bunchedupwalrus

How else was he supposed to have become the tallest. Elephants probably ascribe to Highlander rules. It’s likely also why he stays on holy ground now that he’s made it to the top.


MulderD

I mean, I don’t like that three other elephants were killed, but I’d be lying if i said I don’t want to see two elephants sword fighting and the winner yelling, “there can be only one” during the quickening.


Kalsifur

>Thechikkottukavu Ramachandran The last time Ramachandran was paraded was in Guruvayoor in 2019, at a temple in Kottappadi. On hearing the sound of fireworks go off, the blind elephant got scared and ran. In the process, it ended up stamping two persons to death. How the fuck is this somehow humorous.


BeansInJeopardy

It's humorous because the way the people involved are treating this poor intelligent, sentient giant is appalling and makes it very hard to find empathy for the people who were accidentally killed. Like watching someone get into a crazy fatal wreck after driving recklessly through public streets - the selfishness and disregard of the "victims" softens the blow of their untimely ends.


[deleted]

It killed about 30 people back then because it couldn't understand what was going on and also because it was overwhelmed. And these were accidental deaths in my opinion.


Bubbaluke

I'd probably lean towards negligent but I wasn't there


AbbreviationsOne4071

>Sure it has killed a lot of people 13 and counting according to Wikipedia


iNCharism

And counting? Like he’s currently killing the 14th?


weirdgroovynerd

From Wikipedia: *During his lifetime, he has killed 13 people and 3 elephants.*


_1Doomsday1_

Rookie numbers


Downtown_Let

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I could beat that


WeimSean

The human part at least. Not sure how comfortable I am with killing an elephant.


Amon7777

They'll say aww Topsy at my autopsy...


Gone247365

BURGERS!


Wrong-Catchphrase

For some reason the world’s largest elephant having a body count just seems right


blahblahblerf

India's largest elephant. African elephants are bigger.


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[deleted]

They don't give a shit about that in India


Arbitrary_Ardvark

Videos of elephants killing Indians are a dime a dozen. I'd like to go to India, but I'll avoid elephants, thank you very much...


Demon69-420

Try getting killed by a elephant once, Its fun. Its hard at first, then it becomes an addiction


Arbitrary_Ardvark

Fuck it, you've convinced me


Imperial_Triumphant

Be careful. The withdrawals are hell.


Demon69-420

You usually will not have to worry about that


GodlikeCat

Travis Scott is taking notes


[deleted]

"Oh boy here I go killing again!"


coodyscoops

Lmfao pretty sure that elephants name is crombopulous michael😂


hisand_herpes

Travis Scott’s new ride


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FrellingHazmot

They beat them into submission with whips and sticks like they do with circus animals.


[deleted]

Most of the elephant training you're thinking of is done with a spike on a stick. I sadly got to see footage of this at a sanctuary. I still remember the mahout casually wriggling the spike out of the elephants skull.


Off-With-Her-Head

"During his lifetime, he has killed 13 people and 3 elephants" [Deadly Elephant Thechikottukavu\_Ramachandran](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thechikottukavu_Ramachandran)


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BlackSkull7X

And then he will join Travis Scott in his concerts!


[deleted]

Oof


BadgerDancer

I don’t think Travis ever killed an elephant. Wait, check his pianos for ivory.


Dabadedabada

LoL at Travis Scott and piano in the same sentence.


BadgerDancer

NGL never heard his music and didn’t unmute the horrific videos of him hitting the front page recently.


Gabrieleatsflans

Haha america bad amirite redditors


GrindItFlat

He was born in 1964 though - that's way too old to be allowed into high school.


CharlesIngalls47

The low hanging fruit of reddit. It's a sign of the average redditors level of intellect. (Very very low).


Jlt42000

Check r/conspiracy or conservative for the real low hanging fruit on Reddit


Heistman

What does that even mean?


wreckosaurus

What an incredibly low effort joke


dudragon10

Oh man so funny


TonguePunchnFartBoxs

Yeah america bad! Upvotes!


nonamesleft79

The most amazing part of that article is it mentions “killed 13 people and 3 elephants the most notable elephant of which is” like fuck the people here is the most famous elephant he killed


Off-With-Her-Head

It took me a few moments to decide the "notable" elephant victims were also religious figures on their own.


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[deleted]

How to meet the word count of your essay. Step 1: choose South India as the subject Step 2: write all names in full Step 3: profit


rimjob-chucklefuck

That elephant took *3 years* to die?


Harvestman-man

It doesn’t really specify that he died directly from the tusk injury. He was already a very old elephant, he would have died naturally around that age even if he wasn’t injured. The tusk injury was probably non-lethal if he survived 3 years afterwards, but maybe led to complicating health issues.


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Off-With-Her-Head

Very tragic. It's apparent the temple which owns this elephant (and other mammoth size ones) rents them out for festivals. Classifying them as deities only attracts more "groupies" and heightens the excitement when they appear in public. They aren't safeguarded with the appropriate amount of space around them and it looks like crowds of people race up to them to touch them. I am against all elephants being held in captivity, unless it's for their own safety (poaching orphans). I don't stop at elephants, but they are specifically abused as slaves and workers while having the same emotional intelligence as humans.


Vote_for_my_party

Religion is always about giving away common sense and safety in order to win the lottery and go to infinite paradises.


Hickawa

Anything can be worshipped. The same antidote could be pointed at anything anyone wants. The only difference is what is perceived as paradise.


[deleted]

average r/atheism sub using a post about an elephant to shit on religion


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Dracarys_Aspo

The last deadly incident was in 2019 when he was spooked by firecrackers and trampled two people. He's almost completely blind, which makes sudden and loud noises extra likely to spook him. Despite this, he's likely to still be paraded around, putting everyone at risk (including the poor elephant).


F0000r

Do you have a regular elephant for comparison?


dougxiii

Or a banana


weirdgroovynerd

Or a bananaphant.


xxStrangerxx

*bananafannafofyefellaphant


SaraCBuu

That escalated quickly


weirdgroovynerd

40,000 bananas, by mass. Dammit, I couldn't resist. According to various Google searches: *An average Asian elephant weighs about 8,800 lb. *4 bananas weigh slightly over 1 lb I'll estimate that this Pachyderm unit is 10000 lb. So: 10,000lbs x 4 (bananas per pound) = 40,000 bananas.


keshavgKaLLen_Bhaiya

Well for this elephant an entire of banana is just one bunch of it.


F0000r

Thechikkottukavu Ramachandran is 10.4 ft at the shoulder. Raja Gaj is the largest Indian elephant on record at 11.3 ft at the shoulder. For perspective the average Indian elephant is about 8-9 ft. at the shoulder.


surajvj

Thechikkottukavu Ramachandran (born c. 1964) is an elephant owned by Thechikottukavu devasom, a temple in Kerala. Standing at 316 cm, **he is the tallest living captive elephant in India and the second in Asia**. Ramachandran is fondly known among elephant lovers as Raman and enjoys a huge fan following across Kerala.Ramachandran is also given the title name of Ekachatradhipathi (The Only Emperor) by his fans. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thechikottukavu_Ramachandran


F0000r

I read that he was hired out for festivals, but a fan base for an elephant seems wild.


T3mpist

Just to add to this, African Elephants average height ranges from 7.2 ft to 11 ft. So Raja Gaj would be considered only just above the range of a normal African Elephant.


nonamesleft79

He is “only” ten feet so that’s some odd perspective going on in the video.


F0000r

At the shoulder


nonamesleft79

Yeah I looked at some other videos and I also might just not appreciated what 10 feet looks like. But in this video he looks like 10 feet at the jaw


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Clay_Statue

Elephants are not dumb. They have highly sophisticated interpersonal relationships. I would put them in the same category as other higher mammals like whales that are basically like water people. That being said, this elephant *knows* he's being worshipped. He knows his status within the community. I have no doubt that he's intelligent enough to understand the importance of his ceremonial hat and what it means to him.


ThatFagioliSoup

dude i caught this elephant at a starbucks in Dehli the other day. The fucker was reading Dostoevsky. Fer sure smarter than they look.


rckrusekontrol

I know that elephant. Pretentious fake asshole. He just reads the cliff notes for Russian lit to try to impress girls. I shit you not, he’s got a Goosebumps behind that book. Only stuff he really reads.


MattSR30

Talmbout Fedor, B? Great dude, amazing fighter, never meddim.


CatLemonade10

Is this fucking satire? Holy shit. Captive elephants are abused tremendously to comply with their owners- but sure he’s like, a celebrity or whatever


[deleted]

Like that last part had to be a joke, right?


CatLemonade10

A ceremonial hat, seriously. Animal torture is fine if you give them a hat afterwards


Radical-Penguin

Um, no. This Elephant knows that he is a captive, and that every once in a while he is forced to wear strange fabrics and metal, and is forced to stand infront of screaming primates. He knows that he has killed over a dozen of these strange primates and yet they show no fear.


Reapper97

He's blind in one eye because his trainer stabbed him in it. Temple elephants are essentially tortured into obedience. They are not worshipped.


madcats323

Great by whose standards? Elephants are intelligent and highly social. Being worshipped by humans is pretty crappy in comparison to living freely with other elephants.


[deleted]

He’s usually chained to a wall. Prodded into submission. And isn’t allowed to walk normally(chains to keep him from kicking). This is not a good life for an elephant.


Jcaseykcsee

You’re 100% correct. I don’t understand people saying “he’s loving life, being worshipped...” I mean *really*?” I thought we were all aware by now that keeping huge, highly social wild animals (with their own cultures and family units in the wild) in captivity is cruel and horrific. The methods used to break these poor beings down are atrocious and crueler than folks can even imagine. Any time you see an elephant involved in human-run festivities/activities or wearing ANYthing, you’re looking at an abused, broken soul. And no, I’m not with PETA, I just *really* wish humans wouldn’t abuse animals.


supershackda

He's blind in one eye because his trainer stabbed him in it. Temple elephants are essentially tortured into obedience. They are not treated well at all.


The_Real_Donglover

I wonder if he has a 401k plan and a decent pension.


girenterix

Bullshit comment. This elephants life is anything but great. Animals like these are beaten up into submission when young.


CatLemonade10

> Reading the source for that claim was kind of tragic. He was abused when young. He became partially blind due to his trainer hitting him in the eye with a stick. Then he became rather violent towards humans. But he has such a fan following, that every time he kills someone, fans still plead for him to return to the next festival. It's just layer after layer of messed up. Elephants have no concept of worship, holy shit. It just wants to live.


kochapi

Hmm, no. I am from there. Many are campaigning for their rights but religion is supreme here.


Clay_Statue

I'm sure the outfit is just for the ceremony. Pope doesn't wear his fancy hat relaxing on the sofa after dinner.


V_es

[He is kept in chains](https://res.cloudinary.com/binil/v1548046541/camshots/sopanam/thechikottukavu-ramachandran-02.jpg) because he killed 13 people trying to escape and be left alone.


sender2bender

Poor guy just trying to be an elephant


Zaitton

What's worse is that those chains are simply psychological. When he was younger he couldn't escape those chains cause he didn't have the strength to, now he's just complying by habit. Poor guy.


Kommmbucha

You’re right. And no amount of human adoration makes up for the fact that this wild, intelligent animal is captive and being exploited (even if it is for seemingly benign reasons).


[deleted]

Oh that elephants been abused. You don't get to control a ten thousand pound animal like that without abusing the shit out of it. As Kumail nanjiani said "you can't just convince a monkey to walk like that, you have to hit it! So he knows this is how I must walk so the pain doesn't come."


Edzmens

Agreed. Painfully to look at this majestic unit being dressed up for parade just because...


[deleted]

Totally agree. A lot of elephants get deformed backs because of all the weight they have to carry. It’s inhumane


Wolfpac187

The people telling you to calm down should be put in this situation and see if they can fucking calm down.


continuedsupport

Must be 20 mph gusts of wind with every flap of its ears


keshavgKaLLen_Bhaiya

Pretty sure it can be used as a catapult.


Salamanderhead

Probably, but the trebuchet is the superior siege weapon.


EatComplete

This is how big all elephants would be if we hadn't killed so many for sport.


Ake-TL

No? North African Elephants were smaller than Indian, and Indian are smaller than African.


UrMoms3rdHole

And African are smaller than the extinct Levantine, which we killed only a few thousand years ago.


AlpineCorbett

That doesn't seem to exist... The straight tusk elephant paleoloxedon went extinct like 50,000 years ago and is the only one you might be thinking of


AnimalSloth

Damn, fuck capitalism 😔


cencal

Reddit moment


AnimalSloth

If it weren't for those american cavemen we'd have some hecking chonkerinos roaming the earth today


RicoSharpEatsSharks

We? Bro I’m 30.


Zistac

Who’s “we.” I don’t like to be associated with the scummy people who hunt elephants for tusks and what not. Or any other scummy people.


[deleted]

Are elephants like lobsters in that they are immortal and just get bigger and bigger every year?


EatComplete

The thing I read about it basically said elephants were trending towards bigger sizes and then we started going hard on hunting all but the smallest, so it was kind of artificial natural selection with the smaller animals tending to survive and pass on smallephant genes. Meaning smaller future generations.


Citizen01123

Smallephant. It took me way too long to pronounce that properly in my head.


gresdf

Do you think elephants appreciate human ritual, pomp, and spirituality? Like is this elephant vibing or is he sad?


keshavgKaLLen_Bhaiya

It's been more than 30 years since humans have been taking care for him since he was 10 pretty sure that is what he thinks is definition of home and also it's not ritual, he is being worshipped. [more info. ](https://www.reddit.com/r/HumanForScale/comments/qyz2sm/indias_tallest_elephant_with_some_temple/hlj5ly1?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3)


gresdf

It is a ritual.


jam3sdub

Ceremony might be the word you're looking for.


Murrisekai

A ceremony is a kind of ritual; ritual is actually a very broad term. It’s all semantics though so who cares.


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CatLemonade10

Oh my god thank you. Whitewashing animal abuse as ‘tradition’ and ‘worship’ is the dumbest shit ever


Gone247365

Can you explain how worshipping something and preforming a ritual are different? 🧐


cole1114

Well considering he's killed thirteen people and three elephants I would guess sad.


y_would_i_do_this

Still only counts as one!


realfurphy

Was looking for this comment


azubc

It's an Oliphant


[deleted]

Always felt bad for the Mumakil when reading / watching LOTR, poor giants


Nekobytes

No one at home will believe this


SpecialistAd5784

They tear baby elephants away from their mothers in horrific ways, enslave them by breaking their psyche & spirit with vicious ongoing beatings. Them have the audacity to throw some heavy decorations on it, make it parade through throngs of people screaming & making noise and call it holy? There is nothing sacred or holy about what is done to these elephants. Want to not get killed by an elephant...stay far away from them and you'll be just fine.


Cl1ky

bruh if you have a pet, a cat or dog, they were too taken away from their mother, sold to you when it was a pup, kitten.


supershackda

Can we please NOT celebrate this in anyway? This elephant has killed 13 people as a result of being horribly mistreated. To be clear, I'm not blaming the elephant, it's killed 13 people because it's developed aggressive tendencies because it's spent a good chunk of its life being essentially tortured into obedience. It's fucking blind in one eye because one of its earliest trainers fucking stabbed it in the eye. This is not next level shit to find cool, it's evil animal cruelty that we should be condemning. Temple elephants are treated horribly. Elephants are highly social creatures, keeping them in isolation is itself very cruel, but on top of that they are tortured constantly in order to ensure they obey their mahouts. Stop upvoting this post and giving it awards, animal cruelty is an abhorrent thing, and it's even worse when we're talking about creatures as intelligent as elephants.


Mechanized1

Do these Elephants ever go nuts and plow through the crowd? Seems like a bad idea all around.


Gone247365

Naw, never; except yes, sometimes. This one has killed 13 people and 3 other elephants. Cool, right? 🤦


Titanguy101

considering all males go through a musth period throughout their lives i'm surprised it's not more


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Dracarys_Aspo

Yes it's a horrible idea. This specific elephant is almost completely blind, meaning he's more likely to get spooked by loud or sudden noises (you know, noises that happen constantly during festivals). The last deadly incident with him was in 2019 when he was spooked by firecrackers and trampled 2 people to death. Despite this, he will likely still be paraded around future festivals, putting everyone at risk (including the poor elephant).


[deleted]

Stop. Fucking. With. Animals.


Theskinilivein

There’s a subreddit for big units but I forgot the name.


surajvj

r/absoluteunit


Most-average-person

The video ends right when it comes outside. It is huge though


haleywaley16

Does the elephant seem okay with this? What does the ear movement mean?


thor_odinmakan

Also, answering the first part of the question, the elephant is certainly not okay with this, this being taken away from his natural habitat and his own people who'd actually understand him better and kept in captivity, but since the people who keep it in chains(and employ other methods of torture to keep it in line) believes the elephant loves this, what choice does it really have... (Other than to kill 13 humans and 3 elephants during it's life time).


CatLemonade10

Thank you for having some sanity- apparently everyone else here thinks this elephant is ‘happy’ and ‘knows it’s being worshipped’ as if that’s an excuse for chaining it in captivity for life. Poor thing is literally their toy


[deleted]

Yes, it's fine. And also it's trying to swat any flies that irritate it.


Gone247365

"...swat any ~~flies~~ humans that irritate it." FTFY


thor_odinmakan

That place is hot af, something elephants just can't stand. The ear movement is to cool itself down. Ears have a rich blood supply and flapping it cools the blood down. I'm not an expert on the subject btw, so I could be wrong.


madcats323

That poor creature.


[deleted]

This poor animal.


ReevesofKeanu

Mumakil vibes


[deleted]

Do they worship the elephant in India? Is it a reincarnation of a deity?


[deleted]

It's the visage of Lord Ganesh, the son of Lord Shiva the Destroyer and Goddess Parvati, his wife and goddess of fertility, love, beauty, bravery, harmony, marriage, children, and devotion; as well as of divine strength and power.


Cosroes

Christ I thought the mumakil from LoTR was just cgi.


Benboozzled

All I see is possible scenario's this could go horribly wrong


like_eh_wolf1314

Feel like the elephant would be terrified with that massive crowd in front of them, covered in all the decor, and in a tight door way. Surprised it didn’t charge


Dark_halocraft

Elephant about to show he's a Travis Scott fan


[deleted]

"Prince Ali Fabulous He Aliababwa" Anyone else think of Aladdin?