Elephant calf hit by train, falls into gorge. She has spinal injuries, say officials

The railways ministry told the Lok Sabha in August that 45 elephants have died across the country in accidents with trains between 2019 and 2021

HALDWANI: Forest officers in Uttarakhand’s Nainital district had to fire shots in the air to drive away a herd of elephants from an 18-month-old calf that sustained spinal injuries after being hit by a train on Sunday. Forest department officers said the elephant calf, which fell into a gorge after the accident, was treated for over three hours by the forest department’s veterinarians.

An elephant calf was injured after being hit by a train at Tanda in Nainital district on Sunday

The elephant calf sustained spinal injuries and has been left at the spot after the preliminary treatment, a forest officer said.

“We have decided to leave the injured baby elephant with its mother in its natural habitat so that the mother can take care of it. On our part, the calf is being monitored with a drone and an infrared camera. Jaggery, gram and bananas have also been kept for the calf’s food,” Shashi Dev, sub-divisional officer of Terai Central forest division said.

Shashi Dev added that the department will also write to the railways after verifying the speed of the train at the time of the accident. “Action will be taken against the loco pilot of the train after filing a report,” the forest officer said, underlining that the speed of the train has been fixed at 35km/hour after discussions with railway officials.

“This area is sensitive in terms of elephant movement,” the officer said.

Forest department veterinarians treating the injured elephant calf

According to statistics maintained by the railways, 19 elephants died across the country in 2021 in accidents with trains, as compared to 16 deaths in 2020 and 10 deaths in 2019.

A second forest department officer said the accident involving the Samark Kranti Express took place about 2km from Lalkuan, between Lalkuan and Haldi railway stations under the Tanda range of Terai Central forest division.

People from the nomadic pastoral tribe of Van Gujjars informed the Tanda range officer Roop Narayan Gautam about the accident. Terai central divisional forest officer Sandeep Kumar and Shashi Dev rushed to the spot along with veterinarians and staffers.

But the veterinarians couldn’t reach the calf because the elephant herd surrounded the injured calf to protect her and wouldn’t let anyone close. At one point, they even chased away the team that tried to approach the calf.

Forest officers eventually deployed two excavator machines and tractor-trolleys to block one approach to the calf and fired shots in the air to disperse the elephants.

During the three hours that the veterinarians examined the elephant calf and administered medicines, the elephants repeatedly tried to reach her to protect the calf. The second forest officer said they had a tough time keeping the herd at a distance.

According to the veterinarians, the elephant calf has suffered a spinal injury and was not able to get up and walk.

A drone was used to monitor the injured elephant overnight and its condition is being checked again on Monday, the officer added.