Four-day old calf elephant at Sakrebailu dies The Hindu March 11, 2025 See link <https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/four-day-old-calf-elephant-at-sakrebailu-dies/article69317290.ece> for photo. A four-day-old calf born to Hemavathi, an elephant of Sakrebailu elephant camp near Shivamogga, died on Monday evening. The calf died as the mother elephant was unable to nurse it. Officers said that the efforts of the camp’s staff to feed the calf had also failed. The staff at the camp leave the elephants in forest areas in the evenings and bring them back to the camp every morning. Hemavathi, about ten and a half years, gave birth to the male calf in the forest area on March 7. The caretakers of elephants noticed that the mother elephant was unable to nurse the calf. With no sufficient milk, the calf kept on following the mother elephant, who wandered in the forest along with another female elephant, Nethravathi, who also belonged to the camp, and a wild tusker. For the staff, it was a difficult task to go near the baby elephant and take care of it, as the wild elephant would chase them away. However, they fed the baby elephant milk a couple of times. Prasanna Krishna Patagar, Deputy Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) in Shivamogga, told The Hindu that the female elephant conceived a baby at an early age, and failed to nurse the calf. “Our staff tried to feed the newborn and also bring him to the camp. However, they failed, as the wild elephant was always around. The newborn died of starvation. During the post-mortem, it was clear that the animal’s stomach was empty,” the officer said. The carcass was disposed of on Tuesday. The staff and the officers conducted a post-mortem in the forest area, keeping a watch on the movement of the wild elephant. “The wild elephant was around 500 m away. The staff kept a watch on its movements and also made vehicle arrangements to escape in case it reached the post-mortem spot,” the officer said. Caretaker Injured Meanwhile, a caretaker of elephants suffered injuries as he tripped when the wild elephant charged at him on Monday. He was admitted to McGann Hospital in Shivamogga. The officer said that the staffer suffered minor injuries and was now discharged from the hospital. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/four-day-old-calf-elephant-at-sakrebailu-dies/article69317290.ece