AP News, September 21st, 2007
Veterinarians at a zoo in eastern India struggled Friday to save an orphaned baby elephant who was injured when a train killed his mother, officials said. The four-month-old elephant was brought to the Nandankanan Zoo in the city of Bhubaneswar with light injuries, but his chances of surviving without his mother were estimated at 50 percent, said zoo director Ajit Patnaik.
"Baby elephants below the age of one year tend to have a very strong physical bond with their mothers. Therefore, the calf is feeling both mentally and physically weak after losing its mother. However, we are trying our level best to keep the baby alive," he said.
In the accident Thursday, the calf, his mother and two other elephants were hit by a train traveling through the jungles of the Joda district, some 220 miles north of Bhubaneswar, the capital of India's Orissa state. Two of the elephants were killed immediately, while the third was wounded and ran off into the jungle, Patnaik said.
The baby had minor wounds to two of his legs and was being kept in a separate enclosure at the zoo and fed powdered milk from a bottle.
"The Nandankanan Zoo earlier had the opportunity to take care of more than 20 orphaned wild baby elephants, and nearly 50 percent of them had survived to grow to become adults," Patnaik said. "However, we are having a close watch on our new baby guest."
Patnaik said the zoo would soon give the elephant a name.
India has the largest elephant population in Asia, with between 10,000 to 15,000, but numbers are declining due to loss of habitat and poaching.
