Aditya, the four-year-old elephant who was suffering from psychological trauma after falling into a ditch, finally breathed his last in the wee hours of Monday.
The calf, which was at Maharashtra's only camp for elephants--Kamlapur in Gadchiroli, where elephants are kept in semi-captive conditions, spent the night in the pit and was rescued only the next day morning by a Forest Department team. After the incident, which happened earlier this month, the pachyderm was withdrawn and was keeping away from food.
His herd of nine elephants was also not taking an effort to help him overcome the trauma.
SV Ramarao, chief conservator of forests (CCF), confirmed the death. “He was in trauma, we tried to help him recover… but somehow he could not recover,” he said.
An official said Aditya's health started deteriorating from Sunday evening and he died at 7.28 am on Monday, despite the efforts of the medics treating him. The post-mortem report revealed that prima facie, the elephant had died of sluggish digestion, and multiorgan and heart failure. His organs will be sent to the forensic lab for further tests.
The elephant camp, which was established around 50 years ago in Sironcha taluka, had a total of 10 elephants, including matriarch Basanti, and alpha male Ajit. Aditya was born here in 2016 to Ajit and Mangala. The pachyderms are kept at the camp between 8am and 4pm and later released into the wild.
