Tamil Nadu forest officials reunite baby elephant separated from herd

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu forest department officials succeeded in an attempt to reunite a baby elephant with its herd near the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in Nilgiris. The forest staff who were on rounds on Tuesday morning found the baby elephant stuck in the mud in the Cherambadi forest range, following which they attempted some measures to reunite the elephant with its group.

The major challenge in reuniting baby elephants that are separated from their herd, is that - the herd must be somewhere in the vicinity of the lost baby for an easy reunion, else the baby won’t be accepted by other herds of elephants. In cases where the baby cannot be reunited with the herd, forest officials would have to take the elephant captive and raise it in a captive elephant camp.

In this case, the forest staff left the baby elephant near what was suspected to be its own herd, but the baby came back running to the humans, owing to heavy rain and mist. On the following day, the officials are said to have used a small rope and tied the baby elephant near the spot where it was first found. This was done in the hope that the herd would find the baby based on its trumpeting calls.

When forest officials returned to the same spot, they found just the rope and telltale signs of a herd of elephants having visited the spot - its footprints, slanted vegetation and thickets etc. Thus, the officials partially confirmed that the elephant was reunited with its herd. However, amid the inclement weather in the region, they are also following the herd from a distance to confirm visually if they baby is back in the pack.

Supriya Sahu IAS, Principal Secretary, Environment Climate Change & Forests, Tamil Nadu government had tweeted out videos of the rescue of the baby elephant and the attempts made to reunite it with the herd.

A kutty baby elephant was reunited with the family after rescue by TN foresters in Mudumalai. Most heartwarming indeed. Kudos #TNForest #elephants #mudumalai pic.twitter.com/eX9gBd3oK7 — Supriya Sahu IAS (@supriyasahuias) October 6, 2021

Generally, elephant herds consist of females, babies and sub-adult (8-10year old) males. Around the age of 12, the male elephants leave the herd and head out on their own as independent tuskers.

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