Elephant rescued from pit after 24-hour struggle

V.S. PALANIAPPAN

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The elephant that fell into a pit at Thadagamforest near Coimbatore on Friday tries to climbout after forest officials eased the path usingsand and stones.

Personnel of the Coimbatore Division of the Forest Department on Thursday rescued a 16 to 18-year- old female elephant from a pit in the reserve forests near Ponnuthamman Koil in Melmudi area in Thadagam Reserve forests.

Villagers who heard a continuous trumpeting sound since Wednesday afternoon informed the forest officials. Conservator of Forests – Coimbatore Circle V.T. Kandasamy and District Forest Officer V. Thirunavukkarasu formed a team led by Range Officer M. Nazir and forest veterinarian N.S. Manoharan. The team located the elephant in a Kallu Kuzhi , a pit in a rocky terrain.

The pit had some water and that probably would have lured the jumbo. Sharp edges of the rocks prevented it from attempting to come out of the pit.

The officials who reached the place once again early on Thursday morning kept the other members of the herd at bay. Officials on one side threw plantain tree stems, sugarcane and fodder into the pit.

This was to save the elephant from exhaustion because of the soaring mercury level. On the other side, another team pushed sand and boulders into the pit to help the jumbo come out on its own. After more than 24 hours of struggle, the animal managed to get out of the pit.Elephant dead

A female elephant, about 20 years, died in the forest near Amaravathy Dam in Tirupur district on Thursday evening. Wildlife veterinary officer, Coimbatore Circle, Dr. N. S. Manoharan, who conducted an autopsy on the pachyderm, told The Hindu that the animal had multiple infections.

It had a wound near the vagina and infection along the reproductive tract, apart from it being anaemic, Dr. Manoharan said.

District Forest Officer K. Rajkumar said the carcass would be buried on Friday since the animal died of infection.

“If it were a natural death, the body would have been left for other animals to feed,” Mr. Rajkumar said. This is the second pachyderm killed in a week. A one-year-old male elephant calf drowned in Thirumoorthy Dam on Sunday.