Borgong, Assam : Reacting to the information given by the tea estate workers, an injured elephant calf was rescued from the Borgong area (under Sonitpur East division of Assam) on Friday and brought to the ‘Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC)’ by the rescue team. The calf seemed to have been
abandoned by its herd because of its severe illness and inability to walk. It also had knife wounds on its trunk indicating assault by humans.
According to Dr. Anjan Talukdar, who attended to the animal, the calf was critically dehydrated and was highly traumatised during its discovery.
The animal has, however, responded positively to treatments. Following several hours of effort of the CWRC team, it managed to stand up on its own and suck milk from the feeding bottle. The wound on its trunk is also being treated, and efforts are being made to stabilise the elephant both mentally
and physically.
As the calf recovers, it will be placed with another which was rescued from the ditches of the tea estates a few days earlier. They will be housed together in CWRC, where they will be allowed to bond for several years.
Once fully rehabilitated and seen as capable of surviving in their own, the animals will be returned to the wild, along with other rescued elephants, as a new herd.
CWRC, an institution founded and run by the Assam Forest Department and Wildlife Trust of India with the support of International Fund for Animal Welfare IFAW), has been involved with the rescue and rehabilitation of abandoned wild animals in Assam since August, 2002.
Photo credits :Dr. Anjan / WTI
