An elephant calf that was rescued from a well in Dharmapuri and taken to the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve died on Thursday, March 30, after a period of poor health. The elephant calf was rescued in Dharmapuri’s Podur village after it had fallen inside a 30 ft well belonging to a farmer on March 11. After being rescued, the calf was nursed back to health by forest officials and health workers. Once the elephant’s health was better, it was taken to the Theppakadu Elephant Camp at the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve to be cared for by Bomman and Bellie, who were featured in the Oscar-winning documentary The Elephant Whisperers.
The rescued calf was four months old and the forest officials had initially tried uniting it with another elephant herd in Hogennkalla’s Chinnar forest with Bomman’s help but were unsuccessful. The decision to take the elephant to the Theppakadu came after they could not unite the calf with the herd.
The calf was brought to the camp on March 16 and handed over to Bomman and Bellie’s care. The duo were already caring for another four-month-old elephant calf from Dharmapuri whose mother had died. Videos of the calf getting accustomed to Bomman and Bellie had gone viral on social media and received heartwarming reactions.
As many as five elephant deaths have been reported from Dharmapuri in March 2023 alone. On March 18, a male elephant died after coming in contact with an electrical wire in Dharmapuri’s Kelvalli village. Meanwhile, on March 7, three elephants were electrocuted at Kali Kavundar Kottai village in Dharmapuri. The incident occurred after a farmer put up a fence to prevent wild boars from entering his fields.