A 34-year-old female elephant died on a piece of revenue land close to the forest, near Kavadiaathal temple in Narasipuram, on Tuesday morning.
It is learnt that the elephant was heading to the forest along with its calf when it had fallen ill and died. This is the fifth elephant that has died in the district in the last 16 days.
A field staff in the Forest Department told The Hindu that the elephant and its four-year-old male calf strayed out of the forests, near Thondamuthur, three days ago. It went to sugarcane fields and we managed to drive it into the forest, the staff said.
Around 5 a.m. on Tuesday the elephant and its calf again strayed into plantations. “We could chase them away for about 2 km as the mother was moving slowly. On reaching Kavadiathal temple around 8 a.m. it fell and became motionless, the staff said.
Attempts made by the calf to get its mother on its foot went in vain. The calf was crying all the while fervently trying to wake up its mother for nearly seven hours. It reminded a similar incident at Madukkarai, where a one-year-old calf tried to wake up its mother that was hit by a train on June 20.
District Forest Officer (DFO) in-charge A. Periyasamy told The Hindu that help was sought from the Animal Husbandry Department veterinarians to treat the animal soon after the department staff had noticed it going down. “But the animal died before help reached the place,” he said.
The cause of death could be ascertained only after a post-mortem examination to be conducted on Wednesday,” he said. It could not be performed on Tuesday as the calf refused to go away from its mother’s carcass.
Mr. Periyasamy said that elephant calves of this stage depend on its mother’s milk till it turned five, though they eat grass and leaves. “The calf is healthy and will be monitored by the field staff till it joins a herd,” he added.
Attempts made by the calf to get
its mother on
its foot went
in vain
