COIMBATORE: A wild elephant calf which was found separated from its mother in Sirumugai forest range last month has been brought to the elephant camp at Kozhikamuthi in Anaimalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) on Friday.
The forest department decided to bring the calf to the ATR camp as repeated attempts to reunite the 10-month-old male calf with its herd failed.
K Manoj, the Range Officer of the Sirumugai Forest Range, said, “As the attempts for reuniting the calf with its herd failed, we have shifted it temporarily to the Kozhikamuthi Elephant Camp as per an order by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF). The department may take further attempts to reunite the calf with elephant herds in the ATR. It will be decided by the PCCF further.”
He also said the calf’s health is normal.
The baby elephant was found alone in the Koothamandi forest in the Sirumugai Range of the Coimbatore Forest Division on May 26.
The mother elephant could not be traced despite extensive searches even with the help of drones by teams from the Sirumugai, Vilamundi, Kil Kotagiri and Mettupalayam forest ranges.
The forest department staff usually trace the mother elephant within a few days after it gets separated from the calf.
In this case, the mother elephant remained elusive so far though Sirumugai and nearby forest ranges are home to a sizeable population of elephants.
The department officials said calf elephants stop suckling from its mother at the age of one-and-a-half to two years. But, this stranded calf unusually started chewing grass collected from the forest early.