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Two male elephant calves admitted to CWRC

CWRC, Assam, 18 October 2015: Two male elephant calves, both under three months old were admitted to the IFAW-WTI run Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) within 72 hours of each other.

The male elephant calf from Majuli island of Assam admitted to CWRC on 16th October 2015.Photo: Subhamoy Bhattacharjee/IFAW-WTI

_{The male elephant calf being provided care at CWRC}

A two and half month old male elephant calf was rescued by the forest staff of Majuli and Nimati beat across the river Brahmaputra on 15th October, 2015.The severely stressed calf was saved from drowning by fishermen on one of the tributaries of the mighty Brahmaputra. The forest staff took the calf to Major Chapori Island, the nearest island connected to the tributary, to attempt to reunite the calf with his natal herd. However, despite waiting for a long time, the herd did not turn up. .

Seeing the condition of the calf the forest officials kept him in a safe place overnight and shifted him next morning to the other end of the river bank at Nimatighat attached to Jorhat town.

The CWRC team was informed about the calf and asked for support. Before being transported to CWRC the calf was locally examined by a veterinary officer from Kamalabari area of Majuli.

At CWRC Dr Panjit Basumatary, the centre veterinarian took stock of the calf and kept him in the large animal nursery for overnight observation.

“The calf weighed 140 kg and though no visible external injury was to be found under severe stress. To minimise the stress, he has been kept with another calf in the large animal nursery,” said Dr Panjit Basumatary.

Meanwhile within seventy two hours of this calf being admitted, on 17th October, 2015, another two month old male elephant calf was found in Majuli Island with injuries by the Jorhat Forest Division and was taken from the custody of the religious head of Dakhinpat Satra, one of the major institutions of Vaishnavaite culture of Assam.

_{The second male elephant calf found in the custody of the religious head of Dakhinpat Satra}

The Jorhat Forest Division in turn, informed the CWRC team and asked them for support.

Dr Biswajit Boruah, the veterinarian who attended the case said, “The calf was dehydrated. There were four prominent puncture wounds over the right and left lateral part of the right carpal joint as well as on the left elbow joint of the fore limb. Another puncture wound was observed over the left buttock. All wounds were with profuse purulent discharges and foul odour. The calf was in lateral recumbency and reluctant to stand up. The wounded areas were visibly swollen and he was limping at every step.”

The religious head was not ready to hand over the calf to the CWRC team and wanted to keep the calf to himself. Finally, after a long discussion and informing him about the strict Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 regarding a Schedule I species like the elephant, he agreed to hand over the calf for its better care.

_{The second calf being provided care at CWRC}

The CWRC team carrying the baby elephant in the MVS crossed the river to Nimatighat Jorhat and reached CWRC via NH 37.

The calf weighed 135 kg and has been kept in the large animal nursery of CWRC.

With the admission of these two new male elephant calves, CWRC now has a total of ten calves, of which three are male and seven are female. These calves are being hand raised to be rehabilitated back to the wild.

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Two male elephant calves admitted to CWRC

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