Manas (Bodoland, Assam), April 11, 2014: Four orphaned Asian elephant calves were moved to Manas National Park this week by the Assam Forest Department and International Fund for Animal Welfare – Wildlife Trust of India (IFAW-WTI). The elephants will be gradually reintegrated to the wild.

These elephant calves, three females and one male were rescued from different areas in the Northeastern state of Assam and under various circumstances that led to separation from their natal herds. The animals were taken to the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) in Kaziranga for care and rehabilitation.

Photo credit: Subhamoy Bhattacharjee / IFAW-WTi

The orphaned calves were bottle fed and hand raised at CWRC for the past five years. They are now weaned from milk and ready for the next phase of their rehabilitation process.

“The elephant rehabilitation programme is one of our best animal welfare achievements in the region,” said Dr Bhaskar Choudhury, IFAW-WTI Regional Head – Northeast India. “We have rehabilitated 10 hand-reared elephants since 2006, and have got evidence of some of these animals integrated with wild herds in Manas National Park.”

Till yesterday, the calves were looked after by a team of experienced veterinarians, biologists and animal keepers at CWRC. They were taken to nearby Panbari Reserve Forest for walks as part of their rehabilitation process.

At Manas, the calves will initially be held in a pre-release area and will go for regular ‘walks’ in the forest with their keepers. During this process the calves will get opportunities to interact wild elephants and begin their gradual reintegration into wild herds.

“The calves are healthy and fit to undergo their next phase of the rehabilitation process in Manas,” said Dr Anjan Talukdar, CWRC Veterinarian. “These calves were radio collared at CWRC and their activities will be monitored regularly in Manas,” he added.

“We have successfully rehabilitated hand raised rhinos and elephants in Manas since 2006. These are part of our efforts to ‘Bring back Manas’ to its former glory,” said Dr Rathin Barman, In-charge, CWRC and Deputy Director of IFAW- WTI.

“We feel all stakeholders should put more effort in Manas and this should be in the mainstream agenda of the conservation circles in Assam to highlight the unique biodiversity values of this UNESCO World Heritage Site” he added.