Injured elephant stands in river near Coimbatore for two days, dies despite treatment efforts

Wild female elephant in Valparai river dies despite Forest Department efforts to treat injuries, post-mortem scheduled.

A female wild elephant that stood in a river near Valparai for nearly two days due to injuries, died on Thursday despite efforts made by the Forest Department to treat the animal.

According to the Forest Department, an injured adult female elephant was spotted in Manambolly river near the Forest Rest house on Tuesday evening. The area falls under the Manambolly forest range of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR).

Though the Forest Department staff attempted to drive out the elephant from the river for veterinarians to assess the injuries and offer treatment, it did not budge.

Forest Veterinary Officer A. Sukumar from Coimbatore Forest Division and Forest Veterinary Assistant Surgeon E. Vijayaraghavan from the Pollachi Division of ATR examined the animal from a safe distance and noticed a lacerated wound on the right dorsal aspect of the abdominal region.

They opined that the elephant was standing in the river to cool its body due to severe pain and injuries suffered from a tusker during mating.

Based on instructions from veterinarians, Department staff stuffed essential drugs, including antibiotics and pain relievers, in fruits such as pineapple, musk melon and bananas and fed them to the elephant using a stick on Wednesday.

Though the staff left some more fruits stuffed with medicines on the shore, the elephant did not move from the river.