A badly injured wild elephant died near Bhoothapandi as it had suffered injuries in the mouth and genitalia.
After a female elephant, aged about 55, entered the private lands in Udaiyaarkonam near Bhoothapandi, the forest personnel, led by Forest Ranger Manimaaran chased it back to the forest as the farmers were afraid of entering their ranches. The forest personnel also dug trenches to prevent the elephant from re-entering the fields. However, the elephant moved to the fields in Rathnapuram and Mookkuththimalai areas and the officials started their operations in these areas.
“When we closely examined the animal, we found that the stray elephant had a wound in the mouth and the genitalia. We decided to tranquilize the elephant with the help of veterinarians and give proper treatment to cure the wounds,” said Mr. Manimaaran.
Besides forest veterinarian Manoharan, veterinarians Prakash from Dharmapuri and Kalaiyarasan from Theni were roped in for giving treatment to the ailing elephant. After the animal was tranquilized successfully on Monday last, the veterinarians commenced the treatment after tying its fore legs.
“The wound in the genital region was worse as the pus had to be drained from the wound. The infection the elephant had suffered in the mouth had turned into a major problem for the animal that could not eat properly to regain strength,” Mr. Manimaaran said.
Though the veterinarians administered medicines and monitored the elephant even after it regained consciousness, the animal could not eat properly and it could not respond to the treatment as anticipated due to its age. The elephant breathed its last on Tuesday.
Subsequently, the autopsy was done on the spot in the presence of Conservator of Forest Dr. Senthil Kumar, District Forest Officer, Kanniyakumari, Ashok Kumar and other senior officials and the corpse was buried there.
