Bhubaneshwar: A herd of elephants went on a rampage at a studio on the outskirts of Bhubaneshwar last week. And when the dust settled, people were surprised to see a little baby elephant left behind.
The one-year-old baby jumbo is injured, tired, and is missing her mother. She was one of the six elephants from the Chandaka elephant sanctuary in Orissa that entered the Kalinga film studio on Saturday. After some chaotic scenes, the five adult elephants retreated leaving this little one behind. Now, she has been named Kalinga after the studio, and is being looked after by forest officials.
“She is injured and the veterinary doctors from the Nandankanan Zoo are treating her. We feel she will be ok soon,” said Akhaya Patnaik DFO, Chandaka.
The 193-sq km Chandaka sanctuary on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar is home to 65 elephants. Although trenches and walls are built along 80 kilometres of its boundary, more than a 100 kilometres are left open so that the elephants don't feel confined. But this has resulted in elephants straying into human habitat every day.
"The elephants are not encroaching the city. It is rather we who are encroaching into their habitat. We either shift few of the elephants from here or have to learn to live with the problem,” said Dr Sandeep Tiwari Manager, Wildlife Trust of India.
Forest officials are trying to send Kalinga back into the jungle, but they say the herd is unlikely to accept her, since she has come into contact with humans.
In the last one decade 21 elephants and 15 people have died in these man-elephant conflicts in and around this sanctuary area. This elephant calf is a latest victim of such conflicts.
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