Jumbo calf dies after falling into trench

ROURKELA: A four-month-old male elephant calf was killed after falling into a trench along the railway tracks during an elephant chasing drive here.This led to disruption of train movement on the Howrah-Mumbai route till 4 am on Thursday with the adult elephants blocking the tracks. The incident occurred near Mahipani level crossing in Bisra forest range of Rourkela Forest  Division late on Wednesday night.

Rourkela DFO Sanjay Swain said a drive was underway to chase away a herd of 17 elephants including five calves. During the drive, the calf fell into an 18-inch wide and five-feet deep trench at around 11 pm. As a  natural instinct, the herd laid siege of the spot and the mother elephant threw loose soil into  the trench in a bid to rescue its calf. However, that left the calf partially buried.

The DFO said after the wait of an hour, crackers were burst to drive away the elephants and make efforts to rescue the calf but the mother elephant would often return, making the rescue operation difficult. The calf was pulled out using earth moving vehicle around 1 am but by that time it had died, possibly due to suffocation. Swain said till the wee hours the herd was present nearby and the mother elephant often tried to approach the spot.

As the remaining elephants blocked the railway tracks, Chakradharpur divisional  authorities of South Eastern Railway stopped train movement till 4 am. The carcass was buried after autopsy on Thursday.