Carrying dead calf, elephant herd meanders through Bengal's tea gardens

Carrying her dead calf with the trunk, an elephant along with her herd meandered kilometres after kilometres in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district on Friday, triggering panic among the locals, officials said.

The calf died in Dooars region's Chunabhati tea garden in Banarhat block in the morning, they said.

The mother of the calf picked it up with the trunk and meandered from one tea garden to another along with her herd, forest officials said.

There are 30-35 elephants in the herd, they said.

From Chunabhati, the elephants went to Ambari tea garden, Diana tea garden and Newdooars tea garden before laying the calf's carcass near a bush at Redbank tea garden, they said.

"The elephants travelled at least 7 km from one garden to another, causing panic among the people," an officer said.

Forest personnel are in the area, keeping a close watch on the situation, he said.