Calf reunited with herd found abandoned in Hasanur
Efforts to reunite the baby elephant with the herd failed twice; staff took the calf to the forest office; Forest Department obtains permission to shift the calf to Mudumalai Tiger Reserve
Atwomonthold female baby elephant that was reunited with a herd after the death of its mother on March 5, was found abandoned at Hasanur on Thursday. The Forest Department on Friday obtained permission to shift the calf to Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR).
On February 3, a female wild elephant, aged 4550, was found in a weak condition with her calves, a subadult male elephant and a calf in a forest area near Bannari – Bhavanisagar road.
While the subadult was guided back to the herd, the calf was rescued and taken care of by the staff. The mother elephant, suffering from liver related complications, died two days later.
On February 4, teams tracked the herd near Bannari with the help of drones and night vision cameras and the calf was reunited with the herd.
The herd comprising a lactating elephant accepted the calf and they were found crossing the road near Bannari the next day.
Continuous monitoring by the staff revealed the calf was playing with other elephants in the herd on
February 7. But, the calf was found abandoned from the herd and was found in the forest area.
Efforts by the staff to reunite with the herd failed twice. Later, the staff identified a herd of the same clan and attempted to reunite the calf with it. The calf that went with the herd was abandoned and was found near Arepalayam in
Thursday.
Staff took the calf to the forest office at Hasanur and veterinarians, after feeding milk and supplements, found the calf to be in good health.
Deputy Director of Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve and District Forest Officer, Hasanur Division K. Sudhakar, told The Hindu a calf, aged a minimum of sixmonths, could consume grass and survival of the twomonthold calf in wildlife without mother elephant or herd was difficult.
“May be, the lactating elephant failed to feed the calf and out of hunger, the calf could have come to the road,” he said, and added that animal behaviour could not be predicted. The officer said they had obtained orders for shifting the calf to MTR and based on the veterinarian’s opinion, the calf would be shifted.
Hasanur on