A man has been trampled to death in India after breaking into a safari park so he could take a selfie with a rescued elephant called Sunder, which rose to fame after its mistreatment at the hands of cruel keepers.
Sunder the rescued elephant trampled a man to death in India
A man has been trampled to death in India after breaking into a safari park so he could take a selfie with a rescued elephant.

The 27-year-old victim, named as Abhilash, had entered an enclosure at the Bannerghatta Biological Park in Bangalore to take a photograph.

But the sales representative was crushed to death after being attacked by a bull elephant named Sunder.

The animal had previously hit the headlines after being rescued from his cruel former keepers following a campaign backed by Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson and Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney.

The tragedy unfolded on Tuesday when the wildlife reserve was closed.

According to local reports, the 16-year-old elephant caught Abhilash in his trunk while he was snapping selfies.

Police arrived to move Abhilash's body to hospital where his parents identified his body and the bike he had parked nearby.

According to The Hindu, Sunder rose to fame following a court case and global outrage over its treatment in captivity at a temple in Kolhapur, Maharashtra.

In 2013, shocking footage emerged showing the young animal being violently beaten following an undercover investigation.


The elephant could be seen chained by two legs, writhing in pain and struggling to stand as its handlers, known as a mahouts, struck it repeatedly with the pole.

In 2013, shocking footage emerged showing the young animal being violently beaten following an undercover investigation
In 2013, shocking footage emerged showing the young animal being violently beaten following an undercover investigation
A year earlier, Baywatch star Pamela Anderson had written an emotional letter begging for the animal's release saying she was 'in tears over the plight of the little elephant.'

Paul McCartney also offered his support, urging authorities to intervene.

The singer was moved by the poor treatment of Sunder — which means beautiful in Hindi — outside Jyotiba Temple in Kolhapur, about 240 miles south of Mumbai. In July 2012, he wrote a letter to India's forest minister denouncing the abuse.

'I have seen photographs of young Sunder, the elephant kept alone in a shed at Jyotiba Temple and put in chains with spikes,' McCartney wrote. '... I appeal to you to do what is right here and get Sunder post-haste to rehabilitation in the forest.'

According to PETA, which has long championed the animal's cause, Sunder was eventually transported to Bannerghatta Biological Park in 2014, where he could be 'cared for properly'.