Balipara (Assam) : A  15-day old elephant calf  was today rescued from near death  after it fell into a  deep and narrow tea estate drain in the north east Indian Assam state.

The  male calf had fallen into a drain inside the Phulbari Tea Estate at Balipara  last night. According to Dr Anjan Talukdar of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), an alert was sounded to the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) on Friday morning.

Rushing to the site, the Assam Forest Department rescued the calf .  Thereafter an attempt was made to locate its natal herd after which   it was transported to the CWRC ‘s  Stabilization Unit .

The calf was dehydrated and distressed after the incident and the two-hour long journey  from the accident   site.  Soon after its arrival,  Prasanta Das,  an experienced animal   keeper, administered rehydration fluids  after which the calf calmed down and  slept .  It   is now under constant observation by the team.

CWRC was founded by the Assam Forest Department and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) with support from WTI’s partner, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). It is a systematic and scientific initiative to deal with wild animals in distress where immediate human intervention is required for their survival.

The calf is expected to join four other calves being raised at the CWRC and will hopefully join the six elephants at the Doimari Elephant Reintegration program where six Asian Elephant calves are being rehabilitated to be released into the wild.

“Incidents like these have become fairly common due to depletion of grazing grounds for elephants in the wild. Herds of elephants wander to villages and tea gardens as food is readily available.   Here they fall into unprotected drains in tea gardens and sometimes die before the rescue team reaches the site,” said Dr Talukdar.