A four-month-old female elephant calf was found dead in a tea estate in Jalpaiguri on Thursday.

Foresters have recovered the carcass. A post-mortem will ascertain the cause of its death, but foresters suspect that the elephant calf fell into a drain in the garden and got buried under soil.

On Thursday morning, as workers of New Dooars tea estate in Banarhat block reached the plantations to join their work, they found the calf in a drain.

“Only the legs of the elephant were visible. The body and the head were covered with soil. We informed the manager, who in turn, told forest officials,” said a worker.

Tamal Ganguly, the senior manager of New Dooars, said that early on Thursday a herd of around 15 wild elephants entered the garden from nearby Diana forest and then returned to the forest. "It seems that while returning back to the forest, the calf fell into the drain and couldn’t get up,” said Ganguly.

As the news spread, a team of foresters led by Dhrubajyoti Biswas, the range officer of the wildlife squad based in Binnaguri, reached the garden.

The carcass was then taken to Gorumara National Park.

“Our vets will conduct a post-mortem to know the exact cause of the elephant calf's death. But it seems that the calf fell into the drain and got buried under the earth. It seems some herd members tried to drag it out but failed,” said a forester.

After the post-mortem, the carcass would be cremated in the reserve forest area, said sources.