A 20-year female elephant that tripped and fell between a tree and a rock near Melbavi village near Tholampalayam in Periyanaickenpalayam range died despite the efforts of the Forest Department to render help.
The female elephant along with its calf used to visit Melbavi at night and after eating plantain crops would leave the village at dawn. On Tuesday, the calf and the mother elephant left the village as usual at dawn but the pachyderm tripped and fell down around 6 a.m while entering the forest
Anti-Poaching Watcher Thangavel who witnessed the incident alerted the Forest Range Officer Nazir. Immediately, District Forest Officer V. Thirunavukkarasu and team visited the place.
Help rendered
Officials tried to help the female elephant by giving it water through hoses. But the efforts were in vain and the elephant died around 2.30 p.m. The calf that was loitering at the place for sometime went away on seeing the crowd but was seen frequenting the place till noon.
Post-mortem
The veterinary doctor who conducted the post-mortem said the elephant could have had an ailment and a fall at such a time could have proved fatal.
However, the exact reasons for death could be ascertained only after medical examination of the samples of the dead elephant.
