(IN): Jumbo calf drowns in tank

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*Link: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080926/jsp/northeast/story_9889461.jsp

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*Jumbo calf drowns in tank*

*- NGO seeks protection of elephant corridor near Deepor*

A STAFF REPORTER

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*Guwahati, Sept. 25: *The carcass of a male elephant calf was found floating

in a water tank inside Narengi army cantonment here this morning.

 

The calf, aged between two and two-and-a-half years, seems to have been part

of a herd which strayed into the army cantonment from the adjoining Amchang

wildlife sanctuary last night.

 

" Army personnel and residents around the cantonment told us that they had

seen a herd of about 14 elephants moving in the area for the past two days, "

a police officer said.

 

The calf might have missed the eight-foot deep tank at night and fallen into

it. The tank can hold 2.5 lakh litres of water which is used by the army for

fire-fighting.

 

An army fire-fighter noticed the carcass floating in the tank around 10am

and informed his seniors.

 

" The army authorities of 51 sub-area in Narengi informed me about the

incident over phone this morning. We sent our staff and veterinary doctors

to the spot, " said S.K. Seal Sarma, the divisional forest officer of

Guwahati wildlife division.

 

He said a post-mortem was conducted this afternoon.

 

" According to the doctors, no external injury was found and the calf may

have died of drowning, " he added.

 

Elephants often stray into the Narengi cantonment, as it is located in an

elephant corridor close to Amchang wildlife sanctuary.

 

A calf had been rescued from a ring well in the cantonment in December 2004.

The army had landed in a controversy in September 2005 when it buried a

female calf without informing the forest department. It extended the

information a couple of months later, citing ignorance of law and procedures

as the reason for the delay.

 

In another development, People For Animals (PFA), an NGO, submitted a

memorandum to Assam Governor S.C. Mathur today, seeking a ban on blasting

and cutting of hills in an elephant corridor near Deepor Beel, a wetland on

the city's outskirts, as it was disturbing the animals.

 

" We want the elephant corridors to be protected to end the man-elephant

conflict, " the chairperson of the Assam chapter of the PFA, Sangeeta

Goswami, said.

 

The PFA also requested the governor to initiate appropriate measures for the

protection and conservation of the *beel*, which was often visited by

elephant herds from Meghalaya.

 

 

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