Wild Animals, especially Elephants trespassing into villages and residential areas in search of fodder and water has become a common phenomenon these days. For the last few days, a herd of elephants were spotted wandering in the reserve forest and in the brick kiln areas of Thadagam region.
Natives of this area spotted a mother and a calf a couple of days back. However, it has been reported that the mother and calf were separated and the latter was noticed wandering around this vicinity solo.
The residents of the Thadagam area also noticed an injury in this calf’s mouth, following which the forest officials were alerted. The forest officials administered food that is laced with medicines for this injured calf. However, this calf showed no signs of improvement. This left the officials suspicious if this calf is actually consuming food in the first place.
This also prompted the forest officials to bring to this location a kumki elephant to take control of this calf. However, when Kumki arrived, the injured calf disappeared. This morning, the injured calf was spotted at the Mangarai forest officers quarters. A team of forest department staff were in the process of preparing food to feed the elephant. Lured by the smell of the food, the calf came in close quarters to the spot.
Ramasubramaian IFS, District Forest Officer, Dr. Manoharan, Veterinary Doctor and Dinesh, Forest range officer along with 40 staff from the forest department swung into action immediately. After great efforts, the elephant calf was tranquilized and safely shifted to Sadivayal elephant camp for further treatment.