This is the time of the year when the elephants raid the standing paddy crops in the plains and the elephant patrol team of the forest division do ‘drive-back’ operations to save as many pachyderms as possible. Unfortunately for the calves this exodus sometimes proves to be dangerous as they are left behind or trapped by the harried farmers. This calf could have strayed out of a herd of elephants that was sighted in Sector 16 of Kutalguri Division of Rupajuli a day before this incident.

This elephant calf was spotted by some guards of the tea estate at 6 A.M on the 23 rd September. The calf was trapped in an awkward position in a ditch inside the garden. The guards informed Shankar Mitra, senior assistant manager at Rupajuli tea estate of Williamson Tea Assam Ltd. He immediately rushed to the calf’s rescue and his men managed to extricate the calf with much difficulty.

On bringing the calf home, Mr. Mitra cleaned her up and fed her with Lactogen formula and glucose. He then consulted his friend Nissar Ahmed, Manager, Phulbari tea estate who advised him to get in touch with the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC). Both Mr. Mitra and his wife Tanuka played foster parents to the calf until the CWRC team comprising of keepers Tarun Gogoi and Prashanta Das, vetenirarian Dr. Anjan Talukdar and Manager North East, Dr. Murali Pai, reached the Rupajuli estate at noon in the ambulance.

Situated in Kaziranga National Park , Assam , 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). CWRC is a systematic and scientific initiative to deal with wild animals in distress where immediate human intervention is required for their survival.

Concerned about the calf Rathin Burman, Centre manager CWRC said, “A nasty trunk injury gaped at me when I first saw the calf. It was a lacerated wound at the tip of the trunk, with the ‘finger’ (the projection at the trunk tip) missing. The calf had probably wrenched its trunk in the process of freeing itself. It also had an infected navel stump.”

On her arrival at CWRC the calf was bottle-fed with a solution of glucose and electrolytes and Dr. Talukdar, the centre veterinarian explained the intricacies of calf feeding to all tea planters present so that no other type of milk, which may not be compatible to her tender digestive system is fed to her.

“The calf was operated upon for its trunk injury by the CWRC vet under general anesthesia on the 25 th September 2004 . The wound was debrided (dead tissue was cut away) and explored for any possibility of reconstruction. But, it turned out to be no-win situation as the tip of the trunk was missing and second intention healing was the only option (which means it will be an open wound and heal in due course with antibiotic dressings). The calf took this 20 minute procedure rather well and was soon on it feet on reversing the anesthetic effect, “ reported Dr. Murali Pai.

The calf is being bottle-fed with milk formula Lactogen 2 every 1.5 hours around the clock.