Forest rangers capture wild elephant calf in Jalpaiguri

JALPAIGURI - Forest Rangers of Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary captured a two-year-old male elephant calf from the vicinity of Madarihat village in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri District.

The elephant calf was residing in and around the village located near the sanctuary for the last 13 days.

The elephant calf had got detached from its herd few days back and later the herd probably refused its re-entry.

Consequently, it returned to the village where the people began treating the elephant calf like a family member.

“It doest not like forest anymore but lives with us. We also love it and we treat it as part of our family. As we feel sad when our family members go away somewhere similarly we felt good when it lived with us and not go away,” said Budhu Orai, a villager.

On Thursday, rangers tranquillised the elephant and took it away in a truck.

The Divisional Forest Officer said the calf would be nurtured till it becomes mature and then send it back to its natural habitat after proper medical check-up.

“I also feel that this time when an elephant calf has left its herd and has been living with the villagers. This may have resulted in accidents where villagers might have got hurt. That is why we captured it to save the villagers. It is healthy but seems tired. We will get it examined and then train it to become a mature elephant,” said Om Prakash Gupta, Divisional Forest Officer. By Tarak Sarkar (ANI)