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Plan to produce video on baby elephant

Bhubaneswar: Orissa’s forest department has decided to produce a documentary on Kalinga, the baby elephant that died recently in the wild, to keep alive memories of its short life.

The baby elephant was reared by wildlife personnel for 40 days, from the time it was abandoned by its herd on the outskirts of this city till it rejoined its mother before its death.

The eight-month-old calf was left behind by the herd when it fell into a ditch near Kalinga Studios here on May 5. Kalinga died last week in Bharatpur jungle, 10 days after it was taken away by its mother. The elephant’s body was found on Sunday.

Chandaka’s emotional Divisional Forest Officer Akshay Patnaik is busy collecting video footage of Kalinga. “We have preserved several video clips of the time Kalinga when was rescued and fed, and her time with forest personnel in the sanctuary,” he said.

According to Patnaik, Kalinga’s was a unique case as the elephant had rejoined its herd after staying with humans for 40 days. It is generally believed that elephants refuse to accept a member back into the herd if it comes in contact with humans. “But Kalinga was altogether different in that sense,” Patnaik said. The forest staff developed an emotional bond with Kalinga, which was fed milk and a particular brand of baby food. The calf was very attached to her mahaut, Chilu Nayak, who looked after Kalinga for over a month, he said.

Patnaik, who has written a 15-minute script , said it would have the dense Chandka forest as its backdrop. The film will be made in both Oriya and English languages. Besides the forest department, many wildlife lovers have also shot footage of Kalinga in different moods. “The documentary will help in creating awareness about elephants as we have put a common question for the viewers. Who is responsible for the death of this elephant? Is it not due to man-animal conflict?” Patnaik said. PTI

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