Happy reunion for rescued jumbo calf with herd on Vinayaka Chaturthi

COIMBATORE: It’s finally a happy reunion for the recused baby elephant. After three days of intensive search to track down the mother elephant, the efforts by staff of the Forest Department in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) paid off on Wednesday evening.

It also turned out to be a heartwarming reunion as a tusker, believed to be a member of the same family, greeted the calf jumbo with loud trumpeting, came forward and took it along, while the cow elephant stood nearby to welcome it near Congress Mattam in Sigur forest range in MTR.

“As we spotted the lactating mother elephant and approached with the calf, the other tusker came charging at us furiously, but guided the calf along with it in a gentle manner. Images captured through a drone on Thursday have confirmed that the baby elephant was wandering around joyfully in the company of those two elephants,” said D Venkatesh, Field Director of MTR.

Before letting the calf elephant, it was splashed with mud and dung all over its body to avoid the adult animals from discovering the human scent on it. Previous attempts by the Forest Department to unite the calf turned futile as a female elephant rejected the calf ostensibly because it was not its mother.

The elephant calf was rescued on August 29, when it was swept away in the gushing waters of Sigur River near Mavanallah. Over the last three days, the calf jumbo was fed intermittently with glucose and coconut water on the advice of veterinarians.

Officials said that Bomman, a tribal expert in handling calf elephants played an integral role in taking care of the animal and assisted in its reunion with the herd.