Keonjhar: An adult female elephant died Thursday due to various complications after delivering a stillborn calf in a forest near Renda Sahi locality of Dubuna village under Bamebari section of Champua range in this district. Environmentalists and wildlife enthusiasts have expressed concern over the death of the tusker. They informed that two dozen elephants have died in the past three years in Keonjhar forest division only.
According to the Forest Department officials, the female elephant died due to acute labour pain and other complications. The calf got stuck inside the body of the elephant causing it severe pain. Officials said that the pain started around 11.00 pm Wednesday night. The tusker delivered the stillborn calf around 9.00am Thursday morning. “After giving birth to a stillborn calf, the animal failed to stand up and its condition deteriorated rapidly. At around 12.00 noon, the tusker breathed its last during treatment,” divisional forest officer, Keonhar divison, Dhanraj HD said. “Further details about the complications will only be available after the post-mortem report comes,” he added. Both the tusker and the calf were buried in the forest later in the day. Sources said several measures have been adopted for protection of the elephants under Keonjhar forest division. However, the efforts have failed. Elephant squads and ‘Gaja Sathis’ have been deployed to track and monitor the movement of wild elephants and ascertain their health conditions, but they failed to track this tusker, they added.