Three-month-old rescued elephant calf dies; tusker toll at MP's Bandhavgarh reaches 11 within a fortnight

Umaria: An elephant calf that got separated from the herd and was rescued died at the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) in Madhya Pradesh's Umaria district on Sunday morning, an official said.

With this, 11 tuskers have died in BTR since last month.

The calf was found ill and abandoned by its herd in the buffer zone of the BTR on Friday, the official said.

The reserve has witnessed the deaths of 10 elephants in the last three days of October.

BTR deputy director Prakash Kumar Verma on Sunday said the elephant calf was found unconscious three days ago in the Panpatha buffer range.

The forest authorities rescued the calf, aged around three months, and it was being treated at Rama Elephant Camp, where it died around 6 am on Sunday, he said.

He said a post-mortem would be conducted as per the rules.

On October 29, four wild elephants were found dead in Sankhani and Bakeli under the Khalil range of the reserve, while four others died on October 30 and two on October 31.