COIMBATORE : An elephant calf in Sathyamangalam that joined with another herd of wild elephants on Tuesday after the death of its mother elephant has separated from the herd on Thursday morning. It has been rescued by the forest department staff and is being taken care of at the Hassanur forest range office in a natural environment.
The team of five veterinarians S Sathasivam of Sathymangalam Tiger Reserve (STR), E Vijayaragavan of Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR), A Sukumar of Coimbatore forest division, K Rajesh Kumar of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) and N Kalaivanan of Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) are taking care of the two-month-old female elephant calf round the clock.
"The animal was not tied up on a tree and has been left alone in a natural environment in the Hassanur range office itself. We are frequently giving lactogen and tender coconut along with drinking water to keep the animal hyderated. The animal is healthy and roaming actively," said a forest department official.
K Rajkumar, Conservator of Forests and Field Director of Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR), told TNIE that they are in discussion with experts and higher authorities and we will go ahead with their plan to shift the animal to Theppakkadu elephant camp in MTR if the higher authorities asked to do so as the tribals there are experienced in handlings such abandoned calves.
Though the forest field level staff with the help of elephant trackers from ATR and MTR tried three times to reunite the calf with another herd, but it did not accept the calf and abandoned it.
According to a senior forest official "After separation from the first herd, we searched for a feeding mother elephant and a calf of similar age among a herd in the forest. After finding them, we reunited the calf elephant with another two herds and the whole process continued till midnight. We were hoping that the calf would mingle with the third herd. However, in the early hours on Thursday, the elephant calf separated from the third herd and was roaming alone on the road."
"We have rescued the elephant calf and transported it to the Hassanur forest range office which is 15 km away," the official added.
K Kalidass, wildlife activist and founder of environmental organisation Osai, told TNIE that bringing a wild elephant to captivity is sad, but that was the only option since the forest department carried out massive efforts to reunite the baby elephant with three herds. However, it did not succeed and it was up to the mother elephant in the herd to accept the calf. There may be multiple reasons for separation as they may think that the calf is new to the herd.
"Survival is generally difficult for calves when they are abandoned by the mother elephant or in case of death of the latter or disease to the calf or any other reasons.
In this case, the baby elephant is healthy and in my opinion taking care of the calf in captivity along with other elephants is the best option when the forest department's efforts did not yield desirable results," opined Kalidass.