Carcass of elephant calf recovered from well

Alipurduar: An elephant calf lost its life after falling into an irrigation well in the middle of a field in the North Shibkata Shitalpota area in Alipurduar.

On Tuesday, local farmers found their paddy fields ravaged by a herd of elephants and upon closer inspection, discovered a broken well ring, with the lifeless body of a baby elephant inside.

Officials from the East Rajabhatkhawa Range, under the Buxa Tiger Project, arrived at the spot and through a collaborative effort, retrieved the carcass.

Parveen Kaswan, Deputy Field Director of Buxa Tiger Reserve (West), explained: “The lifeless body of a male elephant calf, estimated to be around one and a half to two years old, was spotted inside a well in a paddy field. Preliminary observations suggest that the herd accidentally damaged the protective wall of the well, resulting in the fall of the calf. Due to heavy rainfall, villagers were unaware of the incident. This was purely an accident and the calf’s body remained intact. Following the post-mortem, the carcass has been disposed of in accordance with the standard operating procedures.”