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North Bengal floods: Leopard, rhino, bison killed; elephant calf rescued
A one-month-old elephant calf, which got washed away in Nepal’s Mechi River, was rescued in India. Efforts are underway to reunite it with the herd, which has crossed over to India
Floods in North Bengal triggered by heavy rainfall since Saturday have left several wild animals, including a leopard, rhino, sambar deer and bison dead, officials aware of the developments said on Monday.
A one-month-old elephant calf, which got washed away in Nepal’s Mechi River, was rescued in India. Efforts are underway to reunite it with the herd, which has crossed over to India.
“Carcasses of a female rhino, a leopard, two bison and four sambar deer have been recovered till Monday morning. Several areas are still inaccessible. Efforts are on to check whether any other animals have died,” said a senior Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer posted in north Bengal.
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Extremely heavy rains since Saturday night triggered landslides and floods in north Bengal districts including Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri.
“An elephant calf got washed away in the Mechi River, a transboundary river which flows through Nepal and India. Even though it got washed away when the elephant herd was crossing the river in Nepal, the calf was rescued in India. All efforts are being made to reunite the baby with the herd. The herd is now in India,” said the official.
Heavy rains in Nepal have also caused floods in the neighboring Himalayan country.
Officials said that as large areas are still inundated in Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri where rivers have swelled up, several areas still remained inaccessible on Monday morning.
“Our teams are still searching whether any more animals have died. But many areas still remain inaccessible which is hampering the operations,” said the officer.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an alert for extremely heavy rainfall over sub-Himalayan West Bengal, including Darjeeling and Kalimpong, till Monday.
