baby elephant dies after falling into ditch

A baby elephant died after it fell into a ditch in Bisra forest range area in Odisha's Sundargarh district, forest officials said Thursday. The male elephant, which was around four months old, was moving with a herd when it slipped into the six-feet deep ditch near Mahipani village on Wednesday night, said Divisional Forest Officer, Rourkela, Sanjay Swain.

Efforts by the forest personnel to rescue the animal went in vain as the elephant herd surrounded the area and did not allow them to launch a proper operation, Swain said. The situation turned worse for the elephant calf as its mother tried to fill the ditch with earth and the animal died on Thursday morning, he added..

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