Kaziranga National Park bid farewell to its loveable rogue, a 78-year-old tusker called Gadapani which died on Sunday.

The elephant (in picture) had ferried tourists through the grasslands of the rhino habitat for 30 years before a mid-safari joust with a rival elephant killed an American woman and forced him into premature retirement.

“We will miss him,” divisional forest officer Bankim Sarma said.

Like the Ahom prince after whom he was named, Gadapani had a regal aura and was loved by the forest personnel handling him and tourists who would marvel at his tusks and ride his back.

Gadapani was the longest-serving worker elephant at Kaziranga, his career beginning with the small “crime” of trespassing into a forest.