Elephant that travelled 1700km dies

AN elephant thought to have travelled at least 1700 kilometres (1050 miles) from India into Bangladesh after becoming separated from its herd by floods died yesterday despite lastditch efforts to save him.

The distressed animal was tranquillised three times in sometimes dramatic bids to try to transport it to a safari park in Bangladesh, after it washed across the border by the floods in late June.

It was eventually given huge amounts of saline and chained in a paddy field in a northern village to help him recover, but it was “too weak and tired” from its ordeal, officials said.

“It breathed its last at around 7am,” the government’s chief wildlife conservator Ashit Ranjan Paul said.

“We have given our highest effort to save the animal. At least 10 forest rangers, vets and policemen have constantly followed it for the last 48 days. But our luck is bad,” he said.

Mr Paul said the animal likely travelled more than 1700km from the northeastern Indian state of Assam after being separated from its herd in severe flooding.

The animal ran amok and charged into a pond after Bangladesh forest officials hit it with a tranquilliser dart on August 11.

Local villagers jumped into the pond to save the 4-tonne animal from from toppling into the water and drowning. –