IFAW Cares for Pink Elephant
Staff at the IFAW’s Center for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC)
in Kaziranga, north east India, are providing motherly comfort to yet another
rescued elephant calf in the centre. With the arrival of this five week old
female elephant calf at CWRC, the number of elephants has now touched ten. As
such a young calf, it had a distinct pink colour when it first arrived.
The officials of the Jorhat forest division rescued the elephant calf, now named Durga, from Rupaimukh bordering Jorhat and Sibsagar districts of upper Assam. “The calf was in a traumatized state when found late in the evening on the river island,“ said Range Officer Debabrat Gogoi. The elephant calf was then transported to CWRC from the range office in Jorhat for hand rearing.
Dr Anand Ramanathan, IFAW’s Emergency Relief Operations Manager said:
“This elephant calf was only about a month old at rescue, which is why it is
still pink. Young calves get separated from their mother and herd especially
when they fall into trenches, get stranded or are orphaned when their mother is
killed. This is a particular problem where elephants are forced to share their
habitats with increasing agricultural development, especially tea estates which
build trenches to keep elephants off their territory. The annual floods add to
woes of the elephants causing displacement of calves as well.”
Besides these
ten elephants, three rhino calves, four leopards, two wild buffalos, and one
hoolock gibbon are presently undergoing rehabilitation at CWRC. The cost of milk
for the elephants alone amounts to more than $2500 per month.
;)
An elephant calf named Durga was rescued from upper Assam. As such a young calf, it had a distinct pink colour when it first arrived. Photo © IFAW
;)
Durga the pink elephant calf is being cared for at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CRWC). Photo © IFAW
