Mammoth effort to save flood- stranded Indian elephant
Huge crowds of villagers following a wild elephant
stranded in Bangladesh for more than a month by
floods are hampering efforts to rescue it, forest
officials said Saturday.
Severe floods in the northeastern Indian state of
Assam separated the four-ton female elephant from
its herd as strong currents in the Brahmaputra river
washed it across the border to northern Bangladesh
late June.
This week Indian wildlife officials travelled to
Bangladesh to join local forest rangers and vets to
rescue the animal, which is now struggling to stand
on its feet after a journey of more than 100
kilometres (60 miles).
“It’s now standing in a five-feet flood water in
Jamalpur district. It is extremely weak. There are
more than 10,000 people watching her from a close
distance,” Bangladeshi vet Sayed Hossain told AFP.
Hossain said the crowd was hampering its efforts to
reach higher ground as “thousands of villagers have
been constantly following the animal,” even at
night.
Forest official Tapan Kumar Dey told AFP a team
had brought a dart gun, crane and lorry to carry
the animal once it reaches dry ground and can be
tranquilised — but the operation cannot be carried
out while the elephant is in water.
“Her condition is very bad. Last night it travelled 12
kilometres, but it mostly avoided dry ground
because of presence of so many people,” Dey said.
A trained elephant was being brought to the scene
in a desperate attempt to lure the wild animal away
from the water.
“It is so weak that it can’t even lift its trunk. You
can see her ribs from a distance,” Ritesh
Bhattacharjee, a visiting Indian forest official, told
AFP.
The rescue bid comes days after Indian wildlife
officers appealed for help in caring for eight rhino
calves pulled from the floodwaters in Assam.
Scores of people die every year from flooding and
landslides during the monsoon rains in India and
neighbouring Nepal and Bangladesh.
So far this year 96 people have died in the worst-hit
Indian states of Assam and Bihar while 41 people
have died in downstream Bangladesh.
stranded in Bangladesh for more than a month by
floods are hampering efforts to rescue it, forest
officials said Saturday.
Severe floods in the northeastern Indian state of
Assam separated the four-ton female elephant from
its herd as strong currents in the Brahmaputra river
washed it across the border to northern Bangladesh
late June.
This week Indian wildlife officials travelled to
Bangladesh to join local forest rangers and vets to
rescue the animal, which is now struggling to stand
on its feet after a journey of more than 100
kilometres (60 miles).
“It’s now standing in a five-feet flood water in
Jamalpur district. It is extremely weak. There are
more than 10,000 people watching her from a close
distance,” Bangladeshi vet Sayed Hossain told AFP.
Hossain said the crowd was hampering its efforts to
reach higher ground as “thousands of villagers have
been constantly following the animal,” even at
night.
Forest official Tapan Kumar Dey told AFP a team
had brought a dart gun, crane and lorry to carry
the animal once it reaches dry ground and can be
tranquilised — but the operation cannot be carried
out while the elephant is in water.
“Her condition is very bad. Last night it travelled 12
kilometres, but it mostly avoided dry ground
because of presence of so many people,” Dey said.
A trained elephant was being brought to the scene
in a desperate attempt to lure the wild animal away
from the water.
“It is so weak that it can’t even lift its trunk. You
can see her ribs from a distance,” Ritesh
Bhattacharjee, a visiting Indian forest official, told
AFP.
The rescue bid comes days after Indian wildlife
officers appealed for help in caring for eight rhino
calves pulled from the floodwaters in Assam.
Scores of people die every year from flooding and
landslides during the monsoon rains in India and
neighbouring Nepal and Bangladesh.
So far this year 96 people have died in the worst-hit
Indian states of Assam and Bihar while 41 people
have died in downstream Bangladesh.
No comments