Elephant calf reunited with mother after ditch rescue

Happy ending for displaced wild elephant calf reunited with mother - Courtesy of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI)

December 2010. The thirty-hour ordeal of an Asian elephant calf trapped in a trench on a tea estate in eastern Assam ended on a happy note as rescuers successfully reunited it with its mother. Two captive elephants were deployed to keep the mother away from the rescue site as Assam Forest Department officials and an IFAW-WTI team helped the calf out of the trench.

Two month old calf
"The two month old male calf must have fallen into the trench when its herd was crossing the Bogapani tea estate. He was struggling to get out, and even the mother made several attempts to rescue the calf," said Forest Officer Siva Kumar. "The mother was very determined to stay with her calf, which made it difficult for us to carry out the rescue. We darted her to moderately sedate her, but she remained close to the calf, and it grew dark, so we could not complete the rescue operation on the first day."

The operation was resumed early the next day. The mother had moved away and the calf was hurriedly removed from the trench. The rescuers feared that the mother had left the calf and moved on, but she was sighted approaching the site soon after the calf was freed. The calf was walked to an open area towards its mother and released.

Second rescue

"The calf was unsteady and as it headed to its mother, it fell into another hole. Thankfully, this time the mother pulled the calf out! She began feeding it and soon the mother and the calf walked back to the forest," said Dr Abhijit Bhawal, IFAW-WTI veterinarian, who assisted in the rescue. "This is perhaps the first recorded reunion of an elephant calf separated from its herd from this area. We have attended to several cases involving displaced elephant calves earlier too, but these calves had to be admitted to the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) near Kaziranga," he added.

Releasing orphaned elephants
In another recent rescue, a calf that was found alone was admitted to the IFAW-WTI run CWRC, after reunion attempts proved unsuccessful. "Generally, when these calves are found alone, local people in their goodwill attempt to pet and touch the calf seeking blessings, as elephants are considered an embodiment of Lord Ganesha. In that case, the people had applied mustard oil and vermillion on the calf out of devotion. The calf was introduced to a herd that was nearby (which may or may not have been its natal herd), but it was abandoned and left behind," said Dr Rathin Barman, Coordinator, WTI.

This calf is currently being hand-raised at CWRC along with ten other elephant calves rescued from various parts of Assam. A few of the older calves will be relocated to Manas National Park early next year, where they will undergo a prolonged acclimatisation in the wild for reintegration with wild herds.

Five elephant calves hand-raised at CWRC have already been released in Manas NP, as part of this Elephant Reintegration Project.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/do/ecco.py/view_item?listid=1&listcatid=1&listitemid=9201