But then, just 12 days ago, she stumbled into a swamp in the park, got stuck, and things started going horribly wrong.

“It was a very difficult task to retrieve a big animal like her but we managed it. Then, we discovered that she had multiple fractures on her right foot. She has been unable to stand since then,” says Pandey.

As the wounds began to deteriorate, park officials invited a veterinary expert from New Delhi to examine Arundhati — but little came out of that. Then, a three-member panel of veterinarians was formed, which finally suggested that she be “put to death”.

Desperate, the news having spread across the city, park officials then allowed her mahout and his park colleagues to try out “traditional medicines” — again, in vain.

Today, all her mahout Zahoor Khan can do is wipe his tears and recall some of Arundhati’s pet moments — like the time she ran away with an “intruder” from Nepal only to report dutifully back to forest officials within days. Khan admits that “there is no way anything can be done now to save her.” But not everyone is willing to give up on Arundhati. “We will oppose her killing tooth and nail,” says Puja Bahukhandi of People for Animals. And Dehradun waits.