An elephant calf that was separated from its mother after the herd came into a settlement, and was then given shelter at Bangabandhu Safari Park in Dulahazara, Cox's Bazar, is suffering from severe malnutrition. It is being fed artificial milk, but it has grown weak because it is not drinking enough.

Mazharul Islam, the park's officer in charge, said the calf is in intensive care at the safari park's hospital.

He said the calf is kept in a special room at the hospital, where two skilled staff look after it at all times. The calf, about one and a half months old, depends mainly on its mother's milk. Separated from its family, it went a week without its mother's milk and has become weak from malnutrition. It is being fed Lactogen formula as a substitute, but it is not drinking as much as it needs, and is growing weaker.

According to the officer, the calf is not running and playing as much as it should at its age, which has become a cause of worry. It is being treated under the supervision of the hospital's veterinary surgeon. Asked a question, he said the first aim is to nurse the calf back to health through intensive care; the next step will be taken on the advice of senior officials after it recovers.

Veterinary surgeon Dr Zulkar Nain said: "Having been separated from its family and come into a settlement, the calf is going through a kind of trauma. But its main problem is weakness. It also has some injury marks on its body. We are giving it oral saline as well as milk and dressing the wounds."

"Yesterday the calf developed a blood pressure problem. It cannot walk for long either. Its physical condition can be called quite complicated," Dr Zulkar added.

Forest department sources said that last week the calf came into a settlement with its mother in a herd from the Pairang forest in Banshkhali and got stuck in mud. The mother and other members of the herd tried to rescue it but failed and left it behind. Local people rescued it, cared for it all day and left it in the forest in the evening, but the herd did not take it. The next day it came back to the people who had cared for it. Forest department staff tried several times to return it to the herd, but because it had come into contact with people, the herd went back without it.

Abdullah Al Mamun, divisional forest officer (DFO) of the Chattogram South Forest Division, said the calf was given cow's milk as it grew weak without its mother's milk. In the hope of saving its life through proper care, it was handed over to the authorities of Bangabandhu Safari Park at Dulahazara, Chakaria, on the night of Thursday, 19 October.

"When a member of an elephant herd strays, the herd does not take it back, whether it is young or old. That is what happened with this calf. Because of the herd leader, the mother elephant could not take her own baby with her. Such behaviour is very cruel," DFO Mamun said.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.