The orphaned elephant calf which was rescued from jungles on Sunday is finding its transit home, the Erode forest office, quite comfortable and responding well to treatment. The two-month-old male calf strayed from its herd and was found stranded near a pond in Chennampatti village in Anthiyur block on Sunday morning.
Forest officials tried to reunite the calf with its mother. The officials took it to the forests and left him to the care of a herd. But the calf returned to the pond as the herd rejected it.
As the calf looked so weak, the forest officials led by Conservator of Forests (Erode circle) D. Arun decided to take it to the Erode forest office before handing it over to the Vandalur Zoo authorities.
Wildlife vterinarian N.S. Manoharan and his team checked the health of the calf on Monday morning.
“The calf is stabilising and doing well. It might find the new environment stressful. I think the calf finds the new environment quite comfortable,” Dr. Manoharan said.
It was given lactogen mixed with tender coconut and glucose. “Initially it used to spill the food. Now it seems to like our way of feeding,” Mr. Arun said. After the feeding, the forest personnel take the calf for a short walk inside the forest office premises. It follows forest watcher Gopal and anti-poaching watcher Kumar and obeys them without a protest.
The forest officials feed it every two hours. “Even if it is sleeps, we wake it up and feed. We provide the best care,'' Mr. Arun said.
The forest officials plan to shift the calf to Vandalur Zoo after two days.
