Bhopal | An 18-month-old elephant calf that got separated from its herd has been rescued at Madhya Prdesh's Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, which was in the news over the death of 10 jumbos last week, an official said on Thursday.
“This female baby elephant does not seem to be from the herd that lost 10 tuskers last week. The calf appears to be from some other herd,” BTR deputy director Prakash Verma told PTI over the phone.
The calf was rescued around 10 am on Wednesday from a spot inside the reserve, far from the area where the 10 elephants died, he said.
The remaining three elephants of the 13-member herd have two female sub-adults below 20 years and one female jumbo aged around three years, he said.
“We have studied the pictures of the baby elephant, which is a part of the remaining three jumbos, and this one. Both look different,” the forest official said. Veterinarians are keeping a close on the rescued calf, he said.
“After it becomes normal and two to three days of observation, we will connect it to an elephant herd. Thereafter, we will observe whether the herd accepts it. We want to connect it to its actual herd,” the director said, stressing that they want the wild animal to remain in the wild.
Verma said the elephant calf, which was given mild sedatives before its rescue, is doing fine.
On October 29, four wild elephants were found dead in Sankhani and Bakeli under the Khalil range of the reserve in the state's Umaria district, while four others died on October 30 and two on October 31.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Sunday suspended two senior reserve officials for alleged lapses after a high-level probe team submitted its report in connection with the jumbo deaths.
