November 7, 2024
PHNOM PENH – A female elephant calf which was rescued from Mondulkiri province and brought to the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre for care last week is now in good health.
Wildlife Alliance official Try Sitheng explained that the calf has recovered and is bonding well with its caretakers.
“Its health is very good. It’s adjusting well to its caretakers, showing a lot of attachment,” he said.
In the future, the calf may be bred with an elephant brought from Laos.
The approximately two-year-old, 300-kilogramme pachyderm was rescued from the Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary after being found abandoned near a village farm in Romnea commune.
She had been alone and without her herd for approximately two weeks, before the November 2 rescue operation, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS Cambodia).
After being notified of the lonely animal, a team from WCS Cambodia monitored the calf’s condition.
“[She] looked thin due to a lack of nutrition from her mother’s milk,” said a WCS statement, adding that while waiting to see if the elephant herd would return to the calf, WCS partnered with WWF-Cambodia and the Wildlife Alliance to provide food and milk and stop her growing weaker.
WCS noted that it is extremely rare for an elephant calf to be abandoned.
The team initially observed from a distance, hoping the herd would return for the calf. However, after waiting four days, they concluded that the calf could not survive alone without its mother.
WCS’s biodiversity research team then contacted the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre for the calf’s rescue and relocation.
The rescue operation took two days, November 2 and 3, and involved the participation of WCS, WWF, the forestry administration and environmental department, as well as representatives from Phnom Tamao, park rangers and members of the local community.
Despite the challenging rescue location, the team managed to rescue her safely. She arrived safely at the wildlife rescue centre on the evening of November 3.
WCS Cambodia noted that the success of the operation highlights the great collaboration and commitment of relevant working groups at all levels, including government institutions, conservation organisations and local communities, to protect Cambodia’s invaluable natural resources.
Sitheng suggested that the herd may have been frightened by something, causing the mother to abandon the calf.
He explained that a meeting was held to discuss whether the calf should be reintroduced to its herd, but added that reintroducing a separated calf into a herd is risky as it may be attacked by other elephants.
“We have no plan for re-release. Our intention is to care for it at Phnom Tamao. In the future, we may arrange for it to breed with an elephant from Laos, due to their similar age,” he said.
He added that Phnom Tamao is currently home to seven elephants.
In May this year, Laos presented Cambodia with a female and a male elephant as a symbol of unity between the two nations.