The mother elephant that turned violent after failing to save its calf from drowning in a river in Jhargram on Wednesday started calming down on Thursday morning and was reunited with its herd by evening after relentless efforts of 50 foresters for over 24 hours.

"The mother elephant moved closer to the herd on Thursday morning, but it did not reunite then, and for several hours maintained a distance of around 100 metres from other animals of the group. The mother was grieving visibly. It is usual among elephants. Since Wednesday, our foresters made efforts overnight to send the animal to its herd. In the evening, it finally reunited with the rest of the animals of the herd this evening," said Shivanand Ram, the divisional forest officer of Kharagpur.

The mother elephant and others of the herd are currently located at Khas Jungle-11 (a forest area) under the Kharagpur division.

The six-month-old male calf drowned while crossing river Surbarnarekha in Jhargram's Nayagram along with its mother and 12 other elephants of a herd of pachyderm on Wednesday morning.

After a long effort, the mother elephant dragged out the calf from a ditch in the river but by then it had died. The mother turned violent after the death of its calf and killed two elderly persons who, along with around 100 villagers, had turned up hearing the elephant's trumpet.

The elephant also went on a rampage on the village road. It smashed a motorbike and tried to overturn a parked private bus.

The forest department involved many of its guards to steer the mother elephant towards its herd so the elephants could calm down.

"It was not an easy task for us. The mother elephant roamed across paddy fields, trumpeting in pain at losing its calf. We surrounded it from different sides and finally on Thursday morning pushed it into the forest where the herd was stationed. The mourning elephant did not eat anything," a forester said.

Though the mother elephant reunited with the herd, a senior forest official said that it could not be ascertained whether it managed to overcome the trauma of losing the calf.

"It will take some more time for the mother elephant to come out of the trauma of losing its calf. That is why we have deployed a team of forest guards to observe its activities. However, the good news is that it is not roaming alone and is back with the herd," Ram said.

Compensation

On Thursday afternoon, forest officials led by junior forest minister Birbaha Hansda handed over cheques of compensation worth Rs 5 lakh each to the next of kin of Ananda Jana, 73, and Sashadhar Mahato, 63, who were chased and killed by the grieving elephant.

A forest official said that according to government policy, a member from each of the deceased families would get a job as a forest guard.

Festive alert

The forest department issued an order asking all elephant-prone divisions in Jungle Mahal to engage foresters with equipment to avert further human-animal conflict during the festive days.

The forest officials in four Jungle Mahal districts asked Durga Puja organisers of the region to inform them immediately if any lone elephant or herd of elephants is found nearby.

"We have supplied additional searchlights and whistles to foresters and asked them to keep a 24/7 vigil on the movement of elephants. If any loner or a herd of elephants is found near any human habitat, they will request people not to come out till the animals leave. These special steps were taken as we all be in a festive mood during Durga Puja and Lakshmi Puja," said Bengal forest minister Jyotipriya Mallick.