COIMBATORE: A female wild elephant calf, which was found sick inside the Mettupalayam forest range in Coimbatore district, died on Monday evening despite receiving medical treatment. Postmortem revealed that a palmyra seed was stuck in its throat.According to forest officials, during a routine afternoon patrol on Monday, forest department staffers spotted a female elephant calf expected to be three to five years old, lying helpless in a ravine at Thekkampatti, adjacent to the Kandiyoor reserve forest area under the Sundappatti section.The patrol team notified senior officials. Following instructions from district forest officer N Vengadesh Prabhu, forest veterinary doctors were deployed to the site immediately.Medical care was provided under the supervision of assistant conservator of forests G Vijayakumar, alongside forest veterinary officers Dr S Vennila (Coimbatore) and Dr M Prabhu (Sadivayal elephant camp). Despite intensive emergency treatment, the elephant died around 7.15pm on Monday.A postmortem was conducted on the carcass on Tuesday morning. During the postmortem, doctors noticed that a palmyra seed was stuck in its throat and that its intestines had collapsed.“The elephant looked very skinny and weak. It might have not consumed food for at least a week. The seed stuck in its throat, and it could not eat anything. Its intestine collapsed as a result. The calf’s mother would have abandoned it after it fell ill,” said a forest official.After the postmortem, the carcass was left inside the reserve forest for scavengers.
