Elephant calf’s pangs of parting tug at heartstrings

By Express News Service
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  It was a sombre Saturday morning for staff of a rubber property at Kallar right here — the heart-wrenching sight of an elephant calf attempting to wake its useless mom up by tugging at her legs and shoving her with its trunk, hardly realising that she was ‘dead and gone’. Forest officers stated the mom elephant, aged round 40, died of a lung an infection. The feminine calf aged one-and-a-half years was later shifted to the elephant rehabilitation camp at Kappukad, Kottur. 

“The calf’s condition is normal. It had some grass and water at the camp,” B Ajith Kumar, Palode forest vary officer, informed TNIE. Till the time it was shifted to the camp, the calf stood close to the mom’s carcass whereas persevering with her efforts to awaken her. She was taken to the camp by a group led by Shiju, veterinary physician of Kappukad camp. Ajith Kumar, whereas quoting vets who performed the post-mortem of the useless elephant, stated the animal had a pulmunory an infection, most likely attributable to pneumonia. 

“Preliminary examination suggests it was pneumonia. It will be established during examination of certain organs at the Chief Disease Investigation Office (CDIO) under the animal husbandry department at Palode,” he stated. Forest officers stated the mom and child would have been on their common roam. The physique was discovered on  non-public property on the banks of the Kallar river. The carcass has since been burnt, the officers added.

Tourist crushed to dying by jumboKalpetta: A lady was crushed to dying by a wild elephant on Saturday in Wayanad’s Meppadi area’s forest division whereas on tour, police officers stated. The deceased is Kannur native Shahana, 26. She was staying in a tent in a resort at Elimbileri. Around 7.30pm, the elephant attacked her tent and killed the girl.