Rescued wild elephant dies while undergoing treatment at Dulahazra safari park

An injured wild elephant, which was rescued from a muddy ditch in Chattogram, has died while undergoing treatment at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Safari Park in Dulahazra.

The elephant died on Saturday morning, sixteen days after it was brought to the park. 

“An autopsy was performed on its body. The elephant was later buried in the Hatirgoda area of the safari park,” said Chattogram divisional forest officer Rafiqul Islam Chowdhury of the wildlife management and nature conservation department. 

A five-member expert team was formed to treat the elephant, Chowdhury said. "Doctors said that mud entered the elephant’s stomach after it got stuck in the ditch. The elephant struggled to eat afterwards.”

"The expert team, including the doctors, put in a lot of effort. I myself have visited the elephant a few times. It still couldn’t be saved.”

The elephant, believed to be around 12 years old, was found stuck at the foothill of the Kodaly Tea Estate in Chattogram's Rangunia twice in the span of six days.

The Forest Department rescued it on Apr 30, 24 hours after it was trapped in a muddy ditch at the foothill of the Kodaly Tea Estate in Chattogram's Rangunia.

Though the elephant immediately ran back to the wild after being rescued, it was spotted again on May 4, stuck in a similar fashion in another ditch within the boundaries of the same tea estate, according to members of the Forest Department.

The elephant was rescued with the help of locals on May 5 and Forest Department officials administered treatments for the injury it had sustained during its desperate struggle to escape the ditch.

The elephant was released back into the wild on May 7, but it was spotted again by locals a day later. On May 13, the elephant was rescued from the Ghona area of Jamilabad Nur in Rangunia and taken to the safari park.

Forester Masud Kabir of the forest department’s Rangunia range said, "We tried our best to cure the elephant and return it to the forest. He was taken to the safari park for better treatment. The doctors there have also tried, but we couldn’t him. It feels bad."