Searing heat wave in prevalent in Kolhan division took a toll on an elephant on Thursday. Heat stroke killed an elephant calf at the Ghatshila forest range. Carcass of the one-and-a-half-month old calf (male) was found near a hillock inside the Chekam jungle in Ghatshila forest range. The carcass was buried at the spot after post-mortem was conducted by government vet Shankar Kumar.
Ghatshila range officer Sushil Verma said that after examination of calf they concluded that the elephant calf died of heat stroke. They found no external injury. It seems that the calf was part of a herd which left him behind after the death.. It’s extremely hot in the Ghatshila forest range.
The forest range office was informed about the carcass lying near the hillock by the villagers. “The moment we came to know we rushed to the spot and located the carcass,” Verma said, adding there was also an acute water crisis in the jungles falling under Ghatshila range.
A severe heat wave is sweeping Ghatshila which is also affecting the health of the animals. According to information temperature is hovering between 45 to 46 degrees Celsius. According to Verma, viscera of the elephant calf will be sent to the forensic laboratory in Ranchi.
In May 2010, a two-and-half-year old calf was found in a critical condition with its body spotted with deep wounds. But fortunately the calf came to the notice of forest department officials, who rescued it and later cured the calf at the Tata Steel Zoological Park.
An official of the forest department said that it’s the beginning of the harvest season and so is the elephant started migrating. At several parts of the twin districts of Singhbhum, paddy crops are destroyed by herds of tuskers that have begun their annual migration through the villages.