India, May 31 -- An elephant caretaker in the Delhi zoo suffered injuries on Friday after an Indian elephant at the facility attacked him, zoo officials said, adding that the mahout (caretaker) has been admitted to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital with fractured ribs.

An official said the animal, Hira, was bothered by the mahout's behaviour.

"Indian elephants are docile by nature. Further, Hira is not in musth (a state where reproductive hormones increase in male elephants, leading to aggressive behaviour) either. There are no permanent mahouts and this can be characterised as mismanagement," the official said.

A video of the incident was shared on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), which showed the elephant chained to a hook on the...