Two days after being hit by a train, a female elephant was on Wednesday reunited with its herd in West Bengal’s Kalimpong district.
The female elephant, part of a larger herd, was hit by a goods train, while crossing the railway track near Sevoke area of the district at dawn on Monday. The train driver had applied brakes on noticing the herd, but it took some time for the train to come to a halt.
According to forest officials, the elephant sustained injuries and was unable to keep pace with the herd. While the herd went ahead and took shelter at a nearby teak garden, the injured elephant stayed back at Mongpong forest not far from the place of accident.
On Wednesday, forest officials, along with SPOAR representatives, directed some of the elephants from the herd to the spot where the injured elephant was recuperating. Helped by seven adult elephants, including two tuskers, it got up and joined the herd.
S.P. Pandey, secretary of Society for Protection of Orifauna and Animal Rights, a north Bengal based organisation, said that more than 70 elephants have died in similar accidents along the Alipurduar-New Jalpaiguri stretch since 2004.
