Sivaram Babu, Assistant Conservators of Forests, Hassan division, received an unusual message on Monday saying that an elephant had got stuck in a marsh. Sivaram and his team of forest officials immediately reached the spot where the elephant was stuck at Kadagaravalli in Sakleshpur taluk of Hassan district and found the elephant standing in the middle of the marsh in pain and unable to move. Next to the elephant, its six-month-old calf walked around anxiously, prodding the elephant from time to time.
The officials including a team of three veterinary doctors treated the elephant and found that there was a fracture on one of her legs. "She was standing on three legs when we found her," recounts Sivaram. The officials used a crane to lift out of the marsh and were considering ferrying her for treatment but eventually decided that it was unfeasible. The elephant had suffered the fracture in her leg after getting stuck in the marsh.
Heartbreakingly, the elephant's calf refused to leave her mother's side during the rescue and recovery operation that stretched over two days. "The calf was by her side throughout the treatment process and she even caused us problems because we were not able to separate her from the mother. We gave treatment to the mother and fed her bananas," he added.
The elephant was responding well to treatment and was also feeding the calf on Wednesday. The elephant's response gave officials and locals hope that she will make a full recovery and they will be able to move her away from the marsh. However, that was not to be the case and the elephant passed away at around 3 am on Thursday dying from complications.
The officials now had an even tougher time separating the calf from the body of the mother. The little calf was still trumpeting loudly in a bid to awaken her mother, a sight that left locals and officials on the spot in tears.
Eventually, the calf was separated from her mother and will now be shifted to an elephant camp in Sakrebailu in Shivamogga. "We will be sending the calf with another lactating mother elephant and we are hopeful that there will be no issues in the growth of the calf," added Sivaram.
Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy expressed his condolences following the death of the elephant.
ಸಕಲೇಶಪುರದಲ್ಲಿ ಕೆಸರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಲುಕಿದ್ದ ಹೆಣ್ಣಾನೆಯನ್ನು ರಕ್ಷಿಸಿ ಸೂಕ್ತ ಶುಶ್ರೂಷೆ ನೀಡಿದರೂ ಆನೆ ಮೃತಪಟ್ಟಿದೆ. ಇದು ವಿಷಾದನೀಯ ವಿಚಾರ. ಮನುಷ್ಯ ಮತ್ತು ವನ್ಯಜೀವಿ ನಡುವಣ ಸಂಘರ್ಷ ನಿವಾರಿಸಬೇಕಾದ ತುರ್ತು ಇದೆ. ಈ ನಿಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಸೂಕ್ತ ಕ್ರಮ ಕೈಗೊಳ್ಳುವಂತೆ ಅಧಿಕಾರಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಸೂಚಿಸಿದ್ದೇನೆ. pic.twitter.com/0DUQVmOJrh
— CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) November 30, 2018