The three-month-old wild elephant calf, rescued from a pool in the Koundinya wildlife sanctuary near Palamaner was on Tuesday shifted to SV Zoo Park in Tirupati. The calf was named Janaki as it joined the zoo park on Sri Rama Navami day.
Separated from herdThe one-metre high female calf was separated from its parents and other members of the herd at a pool on a rocky terrain deep inside the Koundinya sanctuary on Monday and was rescued by a special team of forest officials led by the Divisional Forest Officer (Chittoor-West), S. Srikantanadha Reddy.
The Forest Range Officer (Palamaner), Bala Veeraiah told The Hindu that the infant elephant fell into the water cavity, after straying from the herd.
“The shepherds informed us after they heard the agonised cries of the baby elephant. When we reached there, the herd was not seen anywhere. After carefully rescuing the animal from the pit, we fed milk,” he said.
Healthy but shockedExcept for a small sprain in the leg, it is healthy, but shocked.
“Anticipating the return of the calf’s parents and the herd, we waited all through day and night. But, there was no trace of their presence in the vicinity. We came to a conclusion that the calf was abandoned by its parents,” he said.
After a wait of nearly 30 hours at the forest location, the officials shifted the calf in a truck to SV Zoo Park in Tirupati on Tuesday evening.
The SV Zoo Park curator Parthasarathy told The Hindu that it was a welcome in zoo.
“It is very healthy now. We have named it Janaki. It will be our permanent guest. We have taken all steps to protect it.”
The staff at the elephants mote in the zoo expressed happiness at the arrival of the baby elephant on the occasion of Srirama Navami. Padma, the 12-year-old trained elephant will take care of the baby.
