THE INJURED female elephant, Sunder, which was struggling for life for six days, died a torturous death this afternoon. The pachyderm was lying in a trench near Gandhinagar area when a truck hit it and two mahouts on March 22 night. The animal had fallen down on the spot and never got up alive. It had fractured its hind limbs besides suffering other injuries. The mahouts sustained minor injuries.
The attitude of authorities for treating the elephant exposed several shortcomings in the level of preparedness to deal with any such emergency. The hapless animal struggled for life unsuccessfully all these days and all that the authorities managed were some hit and trial methods to treat it. Nonetheless, all efforts went in vain and it could not be even made to stand up.
Even army cranes and soldiers were pressed into service as a last resort but that too proved futile. The elephant’s misery came to an end this afternoon at about 3 pm.
Earlier, this morning the authorities were planning to erect a wooden structure adjacent to the animal in order to lift it and make it stand with the support of the wooden structure. However, when the crane lifted it up, the pachyderm died as a result of shock.
Authorities said the elephant died as result of shock due to extreme stress on its chest cavity and sternum. Meanwhile, some eyewitnesses told the Hindustan Times that the crane had lifted the elephant to almost 15-20 feet height and then it had been sprawled on the hard ground. Several wooden poles and ropes were tied on its body to lift it and it was possibly due to all these moves that the pachyderm went into shock and died, they added.
The authorities are now planning to bury the animal on the same spot.
Authorities said the elephant died as result of shock due to extreme stress on its chest cavity and sternum. Meanwhile, some eyewitnesses told the Hindustan Times that the crane had lifted the elephant to almost 15-20 feet height and then it had been sprawled on the hard ground. Several wooden poles and ropes were tied on its body to lift it and it was possibly due to all these moves that the pachyderm went into shock and died, they added.
The authorities are now planning to bury the animal on the same spot.
Take action against officers: Manak
STATE CONGRESS general secretary Manak Agrawal demanded action under the wildlife act against officials of the State Government who were engaged in the rescue operation of the female elephant, Sunder.
At a press conference today, Agrawal alleged the elephant had died due to the apathy of authorities. The efforts of the State Government were inadequate and unprofessional. Agrawal praised Congress president Sonia Gandhi for showing sympathy and compassion for the injured pachyderm and urging the Union Government to provide army crane and trucks to shift the elephant to ANAND (Gujarat) for proper treatment.