Angul: After fighting a 24-hour long battle, an ailing female elephant finally breathed her last Monday at the Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary in Angul district.
According to forest department officials, during patrolling in the forest they spotted the ailing pachyderm. The officials also came across a calf aged around one-and-a-half-years near the mother.
The forest officials examined the female elephant and found it sick. Later a veterinary team reached the spot and started treating the animal. The doctors administrated the female elephant with 30 bottles of saline, vitamins and antibiotics. However, all their efforts failed.
The elephant managed to get up on its wobbly legs for a brief period Monday morning. She nudged the calf with her trunk as a gesture of love and then collapsed again. It was a heart-wrenching moment for all those who were present at the spot.
Satkosia Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Ramaswamy P said that the female elephant was suffering from some serious ailments. All efforts to save the pachyderm proved futile, he added.
The baby elephant has been rescued and has been kept under observation, another official informed.
PNN
