The people passing by the Forest Office here on Saturday morning stopped for a moment to watch the little baby elephant inside.
The one-and-a-half-month old baby elephant, fondly called ‘Chandramukhi’ has just stopped to take some rest before starting on its journey to Kottur Elephant Rehabilitation Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.
The Forest Department officials, led by Range Officer, Surjith who found ‘Chandrmukhi’ as it was separated from its herd at Chandramala near Nelliyampathy in Palakkad district on Thursday morning attempted hard to re-join the female elephant calf to its herd, but failed.
After many attempts and waiting for a day, they decided to transfer the ‘little mischievous Chandramukhi’ to the Kottur Elephant Rehabilitation Centre.
Foresters, Chandran and Noushad and others began preparing the rear of the pick-up van with old beds and beds from sacks stuffed with hay to accommodate the baby elephant for its journey. “We started at 5.30 p.m. on Friday and reached here on Saturday morning and we avoid the day travel in the hot climate for the baby elephant. We took breaks and veterinarians, who accompanied us in a jeep, frequently checked the health of the elephant,” Mr. Chandran said.
The caretakers of Chandrmukhi are feeding her glucose, lactogen, tender coconut water and ORS Electra, looking after with so much care one would give to a new born human baby. “The baby elephant is very tender and we should be careful in dealing with it. Our veterinarian, Sunil, who is with us from Neliyampathy, while other veterinarians accompanied up to Thrissur, asks us to clean the hands before even touching ‘Chandramukhi’,” Mr. Chandran said. They have so far spent up to Rs 15,000 on food and medicines for the elephant calf.
‘Chandramukhi’ after some initial problems made friends with its new caretakers. “A couple of foresters are very tired from the ‘friendly nudges’ from Chandramukhi during the journey,” Mr. Noushad said.
The forest staff will leave with ‘Chandramukhi’ from Alappuzha by Saturday evening.
