Abandoned by herd, reared by humans

Saturday, Jul 09, 2005

The month-old male calf elephant, rescued from Sathyamangalam Forest after it was abandoned by its mother, is not yet stable, P.C. Tyagi, Director, Arignar Anna Zoological Park (AAZP), Vandalur, said here on Friday.

Mr Tyagi said: "The animal is still bony but we have controlled the diarrhoea. It will take at least 15-20 days for its health to stabilise."

In the last week of June, the calf fell into a shallow water trough in Sathyamangalam Forest. It was abandoned by the herd. . Forest officials rescued the animal but efforts to re-unite it with the herd proved futile. They sent the calf to the AAZP on July 2.

At the zoo, four keepers are caring for the calf. The baby elephant was never left alone.

"The calf puts its trunk in to the keeper's hands while asleep. If he moves away, it wakes up and searches for the keeper," Mr. Tyagi said.

K. Senthil Kumar, zoo veterinarian, said it was fed nine litres of skimmed milk everyday. "Our first priority is to provide psychological treatment to the baby. Its health will certainly stabilise," Dr. Senthil Kumar said.

The zoo has reared four or five abandoned or orphaned elephant calves since 1985, said A. Manimozhi, park biologist.

"There has been so much talk of late of the intricate emotions that elephants have, often rivaling human emotions in their scope, that I have to wonder what they were thinking the day they abandoned this baby. I thought they mourned the death of a herd mate, so this seems real "cold.""