Rourkela: A six-year-old elephant calf that was found severely injured in the Saranda forest near the Odisha-Jharkhand border last week has died despite sustained rescue and treatment efforts.
A drone survey conducted June 27 as part of a forest security operation spotted the calf near the M canal with severe injuries to its left hind leg. Six teams of forest officials were immediately mobilised to initiate a rescue operation.
By Saturday morning, under the leadership of Saranda DFO Abhiroop Sinha, rescue teams from West Singhbhum, Rourkela, Keonjhar and a team of wildlife experts from Jamnagar, Gujarat, began efforts to tranquilise and treat the injured calf. The operation, however, was hampered by heavy rain and difficult terrain.
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The elephant, which had become aggressive due to the pain, was eventually tranquilised by evening, though the procedure proved challenging. Despite being placed under treatment, the elephant succumbed to its injuries.
According to forest officials, the animal had sustained massive trauma likely caused by an improvised explosive device (IED) believed to have been planted by Maoists. Sources confirmed that the post-mortem was conducted in Jharkhand Sunday, and the carcass was later buried.
PNN
