Hit by train, young tusker battles for life

[Bibhav Behera]

NEW DELHI/DEHRADUN: In a tragic irony, the day the Union government declared elephant the national heritage animal on October 21, a young tusker was knocked down by a barrelling Lal Kuan-Bareilly Express at around 8pm, and is at the moment fighting for its life in the forest with a large team of veterinarians and staff, virtually turning the area into an open-air ICU.

In fact, so grievously was the elephant wounded, with a fracture between its hip-joint and thigh, that the Uttarakhand forest department briefly considered petitioning the Union ministry for environment and forests for its mercy killing.

But, by Thursday evening, the 25-year-old tusker had fought back bravely, and there's now hope that it will survive the accident. If it does, animal lovers will have one of the largest rescue missions to save an elephant, to thank. The forest officials first followed the injured animal 12 km inside the thick forest, got a small crane to move it, and have had floodlights installed to work on saving the jumbo night and day.

The tusker is on drip and is being administered antibiotics, vitamins, and calcium along with bananas. There's an x-ray machine to monitor the recovery of its injured thigh. What's made the job of the vets and officials more demanding is the constant vigil of three other tuskers who were its companions until the accident immobilised it. "We're having a tough time keeping the three tuskers away," said an official.

Two teams of doctors from Corbett National Park and Pant Nagar veterinary hospital led by Dr Anil Beluni, along with 30 other support staff, is involved in the operation.

"Now there's no question of writing to the Centre. Rather, we are inspired and encouraged by its determination, which we can see in its eyes, and want to make the operation a success so that it lives," said Dr Beluni.

The Uttarakhand government is now writing to the railway ministry to reduce the speed of trains on this route as it's a known elephant corridor, contiguous with the Corbett National Park.

Taken from
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/i...ow/6832327.cms

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Unfortunate incident. I hope we realign our railway lines so that they don't pass through our forests. Else, we may lose our elephants sooner than later.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

The braveheart elephant had struggled to survive, but finally succumbed to its injuries. The killer railway lines continue to take its toll. When will the Railway department wake up?
Sabyasachi

Train-hit tusker loses battle for life
TNN, Nov 5, 2010, 02.44am IST

DEHRADUN: A 25-year-old tusker, battling for its life after an express train knocked it down near Uttarakhand's Lalkuna on October 21, succumbed to its injuries on Thursday. The elephant had fractured its hip-joint and thigh and was fighting for its life in the forest with a large team of veterinarians virtually turning the area into an open-air ICU.

Sources said the vets tried their best to save the tusker, but it had developed a serious lung infection and blood clot.

Dr J L Singh, who conducted the tusker's post-mortem along with Dr A K Sattoo, said the tusker had suffered supracondyle femur fracture. "It also suffered excessive bleeding and septicemia that killed the animal," he said.

The Uttarakhand forest department had briefly considered petitioning the Union environment and forests ministry for the tusker's mercy killing. But the elephant fought back bravely and the officials had hoped that it'll survive. Earlier, they had followed the injured animal 12km inside the forest, got a small crane to move it and had floodlights installed to work on saving the jumbo.

The source article can be found here: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/h...ow/6874124.cms