Keonjhar: Two 11-month-old baby elephants migrated from Chhattisgarh forest had fallen into the Kanpur dam’s canal at Champua range in Keonjhar district.
Forest officials rescued the calves after a two-hour operation Wednesday.
According to forest officials, the incident occurred near Champua range Tuesday night while an elephant herd comprised of 22 elephants was crossing the Jamudalak canal of Kanpur dam. The two elephants were suspected to have been trapped while crossing the canal.
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When the other elephants of the herd climbed up from the canal to the other side, the two calves, owing to their tiny stature, were unable to do so as the canal is more than 4 ft. deep
The locals identified the two elephant calves Wednesday morning. Then they informed the forest officials about the incident. On being informed, a team came to rescue the baby elephants, aided by an earth remover. The operation took more than 2 hours but the team was successful in rescuing the baby elephants.
Forest officials said that when the herd of elephants was unsuccessful to rescue the calves, they left them at the place and went away.
Officials said that the elephant herd is now on their way to cross the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border.
Notably, these jumbos from Chhattisgarh had entered Odisha and were returning to their original habitat.
Meanwhile, the temporary migration of the elephants from jungles triggered panic in local areas of both the states.
PNN