Efforts to reunite abandoned elephant calf enter fourth day TN

Coimbatore: Forest officers' efforts to reunite an abandoned elephant calf with a herd in Thadagam reserve forest entered fourth day on Friday. The calf was abandoned by its herd near Pannimadai in Thadagam reserve forest four days ago. Since then, officers attached to the Coimbatore forest division have been trying to reunite it with a herd. According to a forest officer, on the day they rescued the abandoned one-month-old female elephant calf, they also had come across the carcass of a lactating female elephant aged around 30 years on a patta land near Pannimadai."We suspect that the dead female elephant was the mother of the calf that we rescued. We have collected samples from the carcass and blood samples from the abandoned calf to match the DNA. We found two herds of wild elephants in the Nanjundapuram area near Pannimadai and attempted to reunite the calf with a herd. But the herd did not accept the calf," said N Jayaraj, district forest officer, Coimbatore forest division.He said they were using drone cameras to monitor the movement of wild elephants in the reserve forest areas."On Thursday, there wasn't any wild elephant movement as the reserve forest area received mild rain. So, our efforts went in vain. However, we have traced three herds of wild elephants near Ponnuthamman Temple area today (Friday). We will attempt to reunite the calf with a herd through the night. If we are not able to reunite the calf with any of the herds till Saturday morning, we will send the calf to the elephant camp in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve after obtaining permission from the chief wildlife warden," Jayaraj said.MSID:: 116718387 413 |