Newborn elephant calf found dead in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli forest

Image used for representational purpose. Pic/iStock

A newborn elephant calf was found dead in a forest in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district, a forest official said on Tuesday.

A 32-year-old elephant named Mangla gave birth to the calf in the forest next to Kamlapur elephant camp on Monday, said Poonam Pate, deputy conservator of forests (DCF) Sironcha.

The calf died soon after birth. The forest department performed a post-mortem and sent samples to a laboratory to ascertain the cause of death, she said.

The Kamlapur camp in Sironcha forest range currently houses eight elephants.

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Locals and tourists have been demanding dedicated veterinary doctors and other staff members for the camp, claiming that these posts were lying vacant at the facility and elephants don't receive timely medical treatment.

According to Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, between 2009 and 2019, 600 elephants have died due to electrocution across the country, Of this, 116 deaths have taken place in Karnataka, 117 in Odisha and 105 in Assam.

According to research article published in asesg.org, 13 elephant deaths were reported in Maharashtra between 2002 and 2010 and that Of these, seven elephant deaths have been recorded in Kolhapur District and 6 in Sindhudurg District.

(With inputs from PTI)