COIMBATORE: A four-month old elephant calf that got separated from its mother was reunited with the herd by the forest department in a five-hour effort at Pannimedu in Manomboly near Valparai on Friday.
According to sources, locals spotted the lone elephant and informed forest department. Subsequently, a field-level staff rescued the calf elephant and the other staff were pressed to check its mother. A 16-member team led by Manomboly forest range officer A Manikandan deployed drone and located the herd in a private estate three km away.
The calf was taken to the spot after it was given a bath and mud was applied to the animal to avoid rejection by the mother due to human imprint. “Our team is monitoring the herd after the calf joined it at 1.30 pm after five hours of struggle,” he added.
Conservator of forests and field director of ATR S Ramasubramanian said Ganesh Raghunathan, who is Senior Programme Manager with NCF helped to identify the herd.