ERODE: A two-year-old male elephant calf, rescued with injuries near Gunderipallam Dam in Erode district, died after treatment proved unsuccessful. The postmortem examination has revealed that it died as a result of a tiger attack.
A male elephant calf, about two years old, was found by the frontline staff of the forest department in the water-spread area of the Gunderipallam Dam, under TN Palayam forest range, in Erode district on Saturday.
Subsequently, a team of veterinarians, led by S Sathasivam, a wildlife veterinarian at the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR), continued to treat the calf. However, the calf died at 8.30 pm on Saturday, as the treatment proved unsuccessful.
Subsequently, forest veterinarians conducted a postmortem of the deceased elephant calf on Sunday, in accordance with EDAF procedures and court mandates. Following this, the calf was buried near the water-spread area of the dam.
"The elephant calf has been severely attacked by a tiger. There were injuries in many places on its body. The attack likely happened about five days ago as the wounds were festering. However, we made strenuous efforts to save it. But, the calf succumbed to its injuries. Since a lot of medicine had been administered to its body, we buried it instead of leaving it for the wild animals," a senior official said.