After a three-day-long search, the forest department officials in the Nilgiris said they managed to track down the mother of a two-month-old elephant calf that got separated from its herd last week. The calf has been seen and photographed with the elephant that is believed to be its mother and another male elephant after it was reunited with the herd on Wednesday evening.
P. Arunkumar, Deputy Director of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (Buffer Zone), said the animal had been fed by forest department staff and a mahout, Bomman, who is renowned for working with young elephants and calves at the Theppakadu Elephant Camp for around three days. Glucose and coconut water was given to the elephant calf over the three days while forest department staff searched using drone cameras for the mother of the animal.
After one unsuccessful effort to reunite it with a herd to which the calf was believed to have been a part of, officials redoubled their efforts on Wednesday with Field Director of MTR, D. Venkatesh, overseeing the operation. On Wednesday evening, forest department officials were taking the elephant to Congress Mattam to check whether the herd of elephants spotted there would accept the calf. On the way, they spotted a lactating mother by the side of the road. They immediately stopped the vehicle and released the calf.
