Dr Shantanu giving water to the dehydrated calf

Blog by Dr Shantanu Kalambi

Bandipur National Park, July 15, 2015: It is very rare that a person finds a job that they’ve always dreamt of, but that’s right where I find myself now. I just started up a new role as a wildlife veterinarian working with the Wildlife Trust of India in Bandipur National Park, where WTI runs a Mobile Veterinary Service (MVS) for wild animals. It has been just about a month since I started and I love it.

I started up about a month ago and it got busy the very next day. It dawned on me very quickly that I was a little out of my element as I woke up at 2am to the sound of leopard announcing his presence with a series of very loud, throaty, sawing roars. The first thing the next morning, I was woken up rather early (5am) by a very loud rooster crowing right outside my window, followed up with the cackling of an equally jubilant Guinea fowl.

On July 9, 2015, at around 11.00am, I received a call came from the Moliyur Range Forest Officer (RFO), Mr. Harish, who informed me that a new born elephant calf had been found in an Elephant Proof Trench close to the Range Forest Office by a group of tribals. It was assumed that the calf must have fallen in the trench the previous night. Reportedly, the mother was still in the area. We were asked to assist in the rescue and reuniting process. The MVS unit was immediately dispatched with field assistant, Vivek, and me. We arrived at the Range Office at 11.45am. By the time we arrived, the animal had already been taken out of the trench by the tribals and taken to the RFO Office. On reaching the site, we noticed that a lot of people had already handled the calf and one person was even putting his hand inside the calf’s mouth to feel it suckle.

The calf was slightly dehydrated and seemed under lot of stress. He refused to drink any fluids (glucose and ORS solution) offered to him as he was not familiar to bottle feeding. Not more than a week old this male calf had dried remnants of the umbilical cord still attached to it.

The mother near the RFO office

I spoke to the RFO in charge and suggested trying to reunite the calf with the mother. He agreed and offered us all the support. We were then informed that the mother was seen around 400 meters away from the RFO office. We swung into action and took the calf to the site in the MVS jeep. We coated the calf in the dung of the mother elephant mixed in water (which had been collected by the forest guards) and waited for over an hour for the mother to show up. The dung masks the smell of humans which could deter mothers from accepting calves. After an hour of waiting, we thought we would drive to a watering hole which the mother frequented. However, by the time we got to the watering hole, the mother was again sighted close to the RFO office and we hurried back.

There was a large crowd of villagers that had gathered at the spot to see the animal. The RFO and I, along with an armed guard, walked with the calf to the site where we found fresh dung and tracks. We left the calf and ran back about 100 meters to ensure the calf cried out, which he did. Soon after, the mother rushed out and charged at us and approached the calf. At that moment, a man on a motorcycle approached close to the elephant and honked. The mother sniffed the calf, turned around, trumpeted loudly and then rushed back into the forest.

I then requested the RFO to ensure the gates to the park were closed to prevent vehicular traffic during our attempts at reuniting the animal. We tried the same process four times but on the last occasion, the mother charged at us and came very close to the RFO office where many villagers were present who started making a lot of noise. She circled the office and then turned around and left, leaving the calf behind. Every time we tried to leave the calf and run back, he followed us back to the office. We then decided to build a ‘kraal’ to hold him in.
The kraal was built in a sheltered area close to the path that the mother frequently used and the baby was left there in the evening for an hour. He, however, managed to break through and returned to the camp. By this time, it had started to rain very heavily and we decided to wait until the morning to try again as it had become very dark and since we had found fresh tiger scat very close by, we decided not to try reuniting the calf and mother in the night.

The elephant calf following Dr Shantanu

I managed to get the calf to drink Glucose and ORS mixed in mineral water by about 7.30pm. Meanwhile, we went back to N. Begur village to pick up some items and when we returned, I fed the calf some more glucose and ORS, which I repeated every 2-2.5 hours through the night and slept with him in a small jail cell in the Range Forest Office. The next morning at 5.30, we shifted the calf to the kraal and kept feeding him at regular intervals.

At around 9am, we were informed by a Forest Department patrol team that the mother had been seen around 10 kilometers away. We decided to call it quits by around 10am as a group of poachers had entered the park and killed a chital, causing the RFO and his team to attend to the matter. The CF and RFO instructed that the calf be transferred to Ramapura Elephant Camp and try uniting the calf with a female captive elephant that was mother to a one-month-old. We stayed the night at the camp and tried to unite the calf and female in the morning. Our attempts failed but another female elephant, ‘Padmavati’, bonded with the calf and adopted him. We started feeding him Lactogen mixed with Glucose and ORS, which he drank readily. We had to leave the camp to deal with a monkey case in Hangala village. The calf was left in the care of the mahouts of the camp who promised to feed the calf according to the feeding schedule given by me and take care of him.

Dr Shantanu with the elephant calf

However, I returned and found the calf in a very dehydrated and weak condition. He had severe diarrhea and required oral fluids. I requested the CF to allow us to transfer the calf to Bandipur Elephant Camp as I believed the calf required constant supervision which would not be possible at Ramapura. I also suggested the adult female who had adopted him be brought too. He agreed but we had to wait until the next morning. My assistant and I stayed the night at the anti-poaching camp close to Ramapura.

The next morning, we left Rampura with the calf as well as a young mahout from the camp who was assigned to his care. We reached Bandipur Elephant Camp where the calf was fed and provisions were made to facilitate the stay of the mahout. The calf was put on a course of antibiotics and probiotics to curb his diarrhea. I will continue to make regular visits at least twice a day until he is stable.

I feel blessed that this calf came my way as one of the first assignments in my new job. Hope he survives and grows into a majestic elephant.