Chhattisgarh now has a troubling wildlife situation when three elephant calves died within a span of 17 days at the Dharamjaigarh forest division. The repeated deaths have alarmed forest officials and wildlife experts. In the aftermath of the episodes, the forest department has convened a special team of wildlife specialists and veterinarians from Dehradun, Bareilly, and Jabalpur to get to their roots in understanding the reasons for these deaths and train the local forest personnel.

Elephant Calf Stuck, Dies in Marsh

The latest incident occurred on Sunday in the Pureda-Amjhar forest area, where an elephant calf reportedly became trapped in a marshy zone near a pond. The calf could not be rescued despite attempts by forest officials to rescue it. The calf’s mother, officials said, remained by its side for hours before scrambling to rescue it by knocking over nearby trees. The emotion has sent shock waves through the internet since details of the incident surfaced.

Eight Elephant Calves Dead in Five Months

But the scene at the scene went viral. Forest officials reported that eight elephant calves died in the Dharamjaigarh forest division in the last five months. The deaths were reportedly due to drowning, being trapped in marshland and falling into wells, among other unexplained circumstances. An elephant also died earlier this year after slipping into a well in January. Multiple additional calf deaths were reported from March to May.

Experts in Habitat Condition Research

The expert team will study the forest setting, determine the reasons for the deaths and train local staff in postmortem examination, wildlife response, and sampling, said Divisional Forest officer Kishore Kumar Upadhyay. Officials are also looking at whether shrinking forest cover, lack of food and water and increasing human activity are driving elephant herds to move closer to villages and water bodies close to human settlements. Members of the team and experts should spend time in the forests to closely evaluate the conditions of their habitats and recommend action to avoid more elephants dying in the future.

Elephant calf deaths in recent years again raised concerns about the safety of wildlife, habitat destruction and increasing human-animal conflict in forest areas of India.