In the early hours of December 29, amidst the mist-wreathed highlands of Tamil Nadu's Anamalai Tiger Reserve, local tea plantation labourers spotted a lone elephant calf wandering near a bus stand. This serendipitous encounter set the stage for a five-hour rescue operation, until the calf was successfully reunited with its mother and the herd. “It was an estate vehicle driver who informed the forest department around 8:30 am,” said A Manikandan, the forest range officer in charge of Manampalli Range in Anamalai Tiger Reserve who monitored the entire operation. “By the time we reached, people had tied its legs with a rope as it was a bit upset amid the crowd. We had no clue where it had come from, but our previous day’s elephant survey in the area gave the first clue about a herd spotted nearby.” At the bus stand, near Pannimedu junction, a huge crowd had gathered. “We had to immediately move the calf to a quiet area to reduce the stress. People had tied it with a rope as it was in distress, running around in circles. We moved it to a quieter part of a tea estate, where the labourers were evacuated to ensure silence,” said Ganesh Raghunathan, a 37-year-old forest conservationist and photographer with the Nature Conservation Foundation, who was at the spot. Range officer Manikandan said it was the previous day's survey data, prepared by a team of biologists, guards, and vehicles for each zone, that played a key role in the rescue operation. The survey team assesses elephant movements and migration patterns and reports to higher-ups by 5 pm every day. Each herd has names such as ‘Padma Group’ and ‘Stephen Group’ to aid identification. When they spot elephants near human settlements, forest officials visit ration shops in the area to alert them, as these shops are often targeted by the animals. “This data includes details on calves, juvenile calves, and male and female elephants in each herd. We recognised the possible location of a herd spotted in the area and sent drones there as it had a calf the previous day. The drone footage showed that the calf was missing – it was almost certain that this one belonged to the same herd,” Manikandan said. The herd was located about 3 km away. “The calf's last meal was unknown, and at its age, it could only take mother’s milk. Feeding it something like Cerelac could risk digestive issues. Making it walk for 3 km was impossible. It needed to be reunited quickly, as it was an unusually hot day. We transported it in a small vehicle, then walked the last half kilometre,” Manikandan said. During the shifting operation, a crucial challenge was to ensure human scent does not rub off on it. “Even a touch could lead the herd to reject the calf. We used ropes to control it. Luckily, a few metres near the shola (a lush patch of tropical montane forest amidst undulating grasslands) where the herd was located, there was the Pannimettu river. We made it bathe in the river and covered it in sand and dirt to mask any human smell,” he said. Elephants usually smear sand over their head and body to cool themselves and prevent mosquito bites. It was around 1.30 pm that the team approached the herd’s location. Hidden within the shola, the elephant herd was out of sight, yet perceptible. “It is a thick rainforest. Even if you are climbing up, you can’t see where you are climbing up,” conservationist Raghunathan said. As the team reached a safe distance from the shola, they carefully untied the animal. “The next challenge was letting the mother know about the calf. To coax a cry from the young one, a call for its mother, we gently nudged its tail and elicited a loud, plaintive cry. The response was immediate and overwhelming. The entire herd, all 11 elephants, began trumpeting in unison. The sound was formidable, the kind that resonates deep within, a chorus of wild,” Manikandan said. Soon, the mother emerged, and the calf headed towards it. The two then trudged back into the shola. The forest team monitored the situation, ensuring the herd accepted the calf. Around 6:30 pm, they observed the calf and mother together. The herd moved to another shola by midnight, and forest guards tracked their movement. On January 2, the herd entered Kerala’s Vazhachal forest division, near the famous Athirapally waterfalls. A rare photo of the calf lying down beside its reclining mother – it is uncommon for elephants to lie down – was taken on January 2. “During this season, from October to March, around 200 elephants travel to Valparai and Anamalai from Parambikulam and Munnar, walking 5-10 km every night. All visiting elephants leave our forest by February-end. By the first week of March, only about 30 resident elephants remain in this forest,” said Manikandan, who is in charge of the sprawling 13,000-hectare reserve.
