Berhampur: The injured elephant calf, which was rescued by the forest officials on Saturday from Pandakhol jungle near Gajalabadi in Ganjam district, succumbed to its injuries on Sunday. The two-year-old male elephant calf is suspected to have suffering from infection and dehydration, forest department sources said.
“Despite all our efforts, the elephant calf could not survive,” said DFO (Ghumusar South) B K Acharya. The exact cause of the death could be ascertained only after postmortem, he said.
During routine patrolling, forest officials found the sick elephant calf lying near a nullah. They immediately informed the veterinary surgeons, who started treating the calf.
“When the condition of the animal did not improve, we consulted experts from Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology and Nandanakanan,” said the DFO. The experts had also agreed to come to the spot to treat the calf, he added.
The calf might be a member of a herd of 12 elephants, which are roaming in the area, forest officials said. The forest officials and veterinary doctors ran away from the spot on Saturday evening when a herd of 11 elephants rushed towards the sick calf. “The elephants did not move from the spot when we chased them. The herd, however, moved out in the early morning,” the DFO said.
Ruling out the death due to sunstroke, the DFO said there was water in the nullah near which the calf was found lying.