Jharkhand forest dept to set up elephant rescue centre
“We have sent a proposal to the state headquarters for setting up an elephant rescue centre. As soon as we get the approval, work on the ground will start to build the centre. This will help us rescue and provide proper treatment to injured elephants,” Saba Alam Ansari, Jamshedpur and Dalma divisional forest officer (DFO), told HT on Monday.
The forest department has initiated a move to set up an elephant rescue centre for the effective treatment of injured elephants, after the death of four injured elephants over the past year, the latest being on Sunday at Chatarma village in Nimdih block under Seraikela-Kharsawan district of Jharkhand, officials said on Monday.
“We have sent a proposal to the state headquarters for setting up an elephant rescue centre. As soon as we get the approval, work on the ground will start to build the centre. This will help us rescue and provide proper treatment to injured elephants,” Saba Alam Ansari, Jamshedpur and Dalma divisional forest officer (DFO), told HT on Monday.
“The elephant stuck in sticky mud died on Sunday. The exact reason for the death will be known only after we receive the post-mortem report. The body of the elephant has been buried,” Shashi Prakash Ranjan, Chandil ranger, said.
The fully grown tusker had been sick for over a month with a deep wound on his front right leg. A team of experts from Vantara in Gujarat was also brought in for his treatment, and the forest department had declared him fully cured after spending about ₹10 lakh on his treatment. Forest department teams had first found the elephant in the jungles near Lakri village about a month ago.
However, the elephant came out of the jungle in a weak condition and had been roaming in the area for the past fortnight. He trampled crops in farmlands and also damaged several houses in nearby villages during this period. He got stuck in sticky mud near Chatarma village on Friday night.
“All efforts were made to bring him out of the mud and provide treatment — he was given 45 bottles of saline, too. But he couldn’t stand up and finally succumbed on Sunday,” a forest official said. The local villagers worshipped him before bidding a tearful adieu.
It may be noted that the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary has been declared an elephant sanctuary, but it has very weak arrangements for treating animals on the ground, with neither an elephant rescue centre nor any modern wildlife treatment facility.
Jharkhand principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF, wildlife) Paritosh Upadhyay had announced the setting up of a permanent elephant rescue centre at Chaibasa during his visit to Dalma on October 13 last year.
