Saving wild elephant:Daily Star

The wild elephant which was almost drowning in the Kaptai Lake was rescued with bullet injuries to its head and neck in Rangamati on October 22. The district forest department is now treating and looking after the animal. Photo Courtesy: Supriyo Chakma Forest officials have put up a heroic effort to save a drowning elephant from the Kaptai Lake on October 22 only to find out that it has two deep b
ullet wounds in its head, a sad result of human-animal conflict. On information from locals, Kalmichhara forest beat officials found the elephant in the lake. It was just managing to keep afloat with most of its body under water. “It was obvious that the elephant was drowning,” Divisional Forest Officer Shamsul Azam told The Daily Star. “It already was in severe pain and could hardly raise its trunk to breathe. It was going under water.” The forest officials immediately brought a boat and tied the elephant to it.  They slowly tugged the animal ashore. “It was a risky effort as the elephant was wild and we did not know how it would react to our approach,” Azam said. “But as soon as we dragged it ashore, the animal could stand on its feet.” But hearts sank as the elephant has not eaten anything since then. It is weak and can hardly move. A three-member vet team from the Chittagong veterinary university is now treating the elephant. Antibiotics and vitamins are being administered. But forest officials dread that it might be a losing game as the wounds are quite deep and may be badly infected. Advertisement Azam said Dhaka forest office has been contacted to get experts on treating this kind injured animals.  There are only about 250 elephants in the wild in Bangladesh in addition to about 100 vagrant and 100 domestic ones, Dr Monirul H Khan of Jahangirnagar University said. In Bangladesh, elephants are critically endangered. “But human-elephant conflict is severe as grazing grounds are overtaken by humans,” said Dr Monirul.