Baby elephant dies two weeks after being abandoned by herd in Kerala

A baby elephant died on Tuesday after it was abandoned by the herd, including its mother, in Kerala's Attapadi forest range. The outcome of the post-mortem report will shed light on the cause of the death, said a forest official.

Palakkad (Kerala): A baby elephant that was abandoned by its herd, including its mother, in Kerala's Attapadi forest range nearly two weeks ago, died on Tuesday night. A forest officer on Wednesday said the exact cause of death of the one-year-old calf was not known yet as the report of the post-mortem examination completed by afternoon would take time to be available.

However, veterinary doctors who were taking care of the calf for the past two weeks are of the view that it was suffering from some sort of infection, which may have resulted in the tragic outcome, the officer said. "The calf was under our care. The day before yesterday it was fine. Thereafter, it showed some weakness and we took it for treatment. After that, it appeared to be fine. But on Tuesday afternoon, it again showed signs of weakness. All possible treatment was given to it, but it died," he said. "It probably had problems since birth, which may have been the reason for it being abandoned by its herd," he added.

The male calf was found abandoned in the Krishnavanam area under Pudur forest station on June 15. He was then sent back to the forest the same day to join the herd camping in the neighbourhood, but he was again found abandoned by them the next morning. The forest officer said that all efforts were made to help the calf join the herd in Krishnavanam forest. A temporary shelter was also built for the calf there but to no avail.