The two orphaned elephant calves may have been taken in by a tusker under its care in Dharmapuri
The two orphaned elephant calves may have been taken in by a tusker under
its care in Dharmapuri
P.V. Srividya, The Hindu
March 16, 2023
See link
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/the-two-orphaned-calves-may-have-been-taken-in-by-a-tusker-under-its-care/article66627588.ece
for photo.
A tusker may be leading the way for the two elephant calves that were
orphaned last week by an illegal electrical farm fence in Marandahalli
forest of Palacode range here. One of the two calves, a sub-adult had
guided his younger sibling out of Palacode forest range into Denkanikottai
forest range, where they had sighted this tusker near a natural waterhole
and have since lingered along.
“The two calves were sighted in the vicinity of less than 100 mtrs from the
tusker, about 4 km into Denkanikottai forest range, exiting the Palacode
forest range. It is a grassy patch with soft grass and bamboo near a
natural waterhole” says K.V.A. Naidu, the District Forest Officer,
Dharampuri.
It is believed this was the route the group of three adult elephants and
two calves had taken last week on that fateful Monday night, when the two
female elephants and one Makhna elephant was killed leaving behind the two
calves that continued to mill around their dead mothers, and later around
the burial site long after.
“The sub-adult remembers the route the group had taken into Palacode last
week and it is shepherding the young one back through that route,” says Mr.
Naidu.
In its wake of the elephant deaths, Bomman, the famed “elephant whisperer”
- the elephant caretaker of Theppakadu camp in Mudumalai, who had raised
such orphaned/ abandoned elephant calves in the care of the forest
department, had arrived in Dharmapuri last week to help assimilate the two
elephant calves with a herd or if the attempts failed, take them to
Theppakadu camp - on the orders of the Madras High Court.
All through the period in waiting, Bomman and his team witnessed an
aggressive sub-adult fiercely guarding his younger sibling, not allowing
the forest personnel to feed the calf. However, on Sunday, the team that
had camped to track the calves had lost track of them causing concerns over
the safety of the young one.
Over last two consecutive days, the team tracked the calves to the
neighbouring Denkanikottai range, milling around a grassy patch in the
vicinity of the tusker, which may lead them back to a herd, according to
the forest department. The dung analysis on the site by the forest
veterinarian showed the calves are feeding on the soft grass. “We will keep
tracking and monitoring them,” said the DFO.
While the two calves are hoping to be claimed by the wild forest, another
unrelated calf that was rescued last weekend from farm well in Pennagaram
was sent to Theppakadu camp in Mudumalai on Thursday evening.
The calf, all of four months old had fallen into a farmer’s farm well in
Neerkundhi village in Pennagaram last Saturday. The calf’s plight was made
known by the barking dogs looking down into the well. Soon, the forest
department was alerted and the calf was rescued.
On Thursday, the calf accompanied by Bomman, was carefully loaded onto a
tempo and was on its way to Theppakadu camp. “It cannot survive in the
forest and needs care. We got orders to shift the calf and it was shifted,”
Mr. Naidu said.
Speaking to The Hindu, Bomman was eager to raise this calf. “Now, I’m being
called for functions (felicitations for the Oscars for The Elephant
Whisperers). Once all that is over, I will raise this little one,” he says
of the newly-rescued calf.