COIMBATORE: After four days of care, a female elephant aged 25-30 died without responding to treatment at Maruthamalai foothills near Coimbatore on Tuesday evening.
Coimbatore forest division officials confirmed that the animal died while it was undergoing hydrotherapy on the fourth day of treatment.
“We had started hydrotherapy around 2.45 pm on Tuesday to relieve the animal of the stress in its joints and muscle. The animal was unable to stand on its own and we had lifted it using a sling on Sunday. When the jumbo managed to stand on its own on Monday evening after the sling was relaxed, we decided to go ahead with the hydrotherapy,” said sources in the forest department.
“We dug a seven-foot-deep pit and filled it with nearly 16,000 litres of water to create a makeshift pool and the animal was lowered into the pool. After half-an-hour, we noticed that the animal had lowered its head, and subsequently, we lifted it from the pool at 3.45 pm,” sources added.
The Coimbatore forest division, in a statement, said the elephant is suspected to have died of a massive heart attack and a postmortem will be carried out on Wednesday to ascertain the exact cause of death. “We will know the pachyderm’s age and other details after the postmortem,” said an official.
The elephant’s calf, which is currently with a herd in the forest, will be monitored using a thermal drone camera, the official added.