Other States - Orissa   

An encounter to no avail

Satyasundar Barik

Kalinga, the calf elephant, after drawing the sympathy of a wild elephant on Tuesday.

BHUBANESWAR: Caretakers in Chandaka-Dompada Wildlife Sanctuary saw a glimmer of hope when a female wild elephant got attracted to Kalinga, an elephant calf, which was left behind by a herd in the capital city limits during first week of May.

The rare event that took place on Tuesday afternoon marked the first ever wild interaction by the calf after being nourished by humans for over a month now.

Forest Department officials have been relentlessly trying to facilitate the calf’s return to the wild habitat in company of a herd. The main trepidation was that if the calf stayed a longer period among humans, there was the risk of being outcast by its wild elephant herd.

"The female elephant, that came with a 18-member herd near Bharatpur Watch Tower, got attracted to Kalinga after hearing its trumpet. We noticed the female elephant was trying to push Kalinga along but the calf was not responding," Divisional Forest Officer of the Sanctuary Akshaya Patnaik, who captured the rare moments, said. It seemed the female elephant was in a mood to take Kalinga along with the herd but reciprocation was hardly shown by the calf, Mr. Patnaik said lamenting that this was the best ever occasion for it to go back to wild habitat.

Kalinga had gone for a stroll inside the forest, one km away from the artificial enclosure (makeshift shed), when the herd came nearer it in search of water on Tuesday.

The wild interaction between Kalinga and the female wild elephant continued for half an hour.

However, as soon as the 18-memer herd started returning to the sanctuary, the female elephant had no other option but to leave Kalinga behind again.

"We were excited that Kalinga would have gelled with the herd because the large herd had two female elephants who were fresh from giving birth to calves," Mr. Patnaik said.

The Forest Department officials were suspecting that Kalinga might have forgotten his days in the wild and association with herd during all these days.

Interestingly, Kalinga had developed a liking for milk, which had been main feed during the last one month, so much so that it came running to anybody who called her with a milk bottle in hand, Mr. Patnaik said.

"The monsoon has already come. Herds might not come frequently from their wild habitats because water would be available aplenty in the forest. If Kalinga failed to return within the next week, there might be little chance of its getting back to the wild again," the DFO feared.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Award for Sudarsan Acharya
An encounter to no avail
Coastal Orissa celebrates Raja with gaiety
Students block two highways
Sarala Award conferred on poet Dasarathi Das
Sigh of relief as monsoon enters State
Governor’s wife hospitalised
Youth’s death triggers violence
Two arrested in robbery case
Landmine blast at MV79 village

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu