Rescued elephant calf dies in Suntikoppa

A newborn elephant calf died after it fell into a drain despite a rescue operation, in Tondur village in 7th Hosakote Gram Panchayat limits, on Tuesday morning.

An elephant had given birth to the calf near the drain next to Krishna Temple in Tondur.

Unfortunately, the calf fell into the drain. The mother elephant tried to lift the calf from the water, but all efforts went in vain. Later, the mother raised an alarm by trumpeting in panic.

Listening to the noise, the villagers came to the spot and without realising about the incident, burst firecrackers to scare away the pachyderm. However, the mother elephant refused to leave the place as the calf was still in the water.

Villagers then realised the seriousness of the situation and alerted the forest department.

The forest department officials and staff arrived at the spot and started the rescue operation.

The mother elephant did not let the people come close to it and scared the people away.

Immediately, tamed elephants Krishna and Vijaya were deployed to send the mother elephant back into the forest.

Later, the forest department personnel and the villagers rescued the elephant calf from the drain. The calf, covered in mud, was cleaned. The newborn calf had turned weak after being in the water for several hours. Despite being recused, the calf could not be saved.

The forest department had planned to reunite the calf with its mother.

Assistant Conservator of Forest Nehru confirmed the death of the elephant calf.

The last rites of the calf were performed by the forest department personnel after an autopsy by veterinarian Dr Chettiyappa.

Villagers expressed their displeasure against the veterinary officer who did not arrive on time.

It was heartbreaking to see the helpless mother elephant wailing after losing its newborn.

Anekadu DRFO Devaiah, DRFO Anil D'Souza, ACF Ranjan, Suntikoppa PSI Puneeth and others were present.