COIMBATORE: Two female elephants battling serious illness and exhaustion for the past few days on the banks of Moyar river, near Bhavanisagar reservoir, died on Friday despite being given medical attention.
“Both the female elephants, one of them in an advanced stage of pregnancy, were affected by hepatitis and intestinal infections. The animals would not have eaten properly for a few months, and became anemic. We tried to save them. But, they could not even stand,” said K Rajkumar, district forest officer, Sathyamangalam forest division.
On May 6, a female elephant aged around 15 years was found lying in the slush near the river bank. Forest officials rushed to the spot and administered medicines, but it could not get up.
The next day, an elephant herd went to the river bank, and one of the female elephants, about 25 years old, was later found lying down as it was weak. The forest veterinary doctor N S Manoharan and his team, besides forest officials, visited the bank and treated the pachyderm.
“We tied tapes around the elephants and lifted them with the help of earthmovers. But they were too sick to even stand up. They could not eat food and had intestinal infections,” said A Sivasubramaniam, range officer of Bhavanisagar forest range.
After the autopsy of both the elephants, the two pachyderms and the fetus were buried at the reservoir site.