Baby elephant who refuses to return to forest

A five-month old baby elephant strayed away from the herd I the Achankovil forest in Kerala, South India into the village. Vinod, a local opened his front door of his house and at Kadambupura was shocked to see an elephant calf at his front door swaying his tiny trunk. Panicked Vinod, raised an alarm imagining a herd of elephants must have attacked their village only to realize that the calf had strayed away from the herd on his own. Local forest official from Mannarappara Range, Konni, rushed to the scene and after coaxing and goading him into the forest and tried taking back the baby elephant back to the wild forest but he simply returned to the village again and is now safely looked after at the Konni elephant camp.

Friendly and playful but he refused to go back into the forest. The calf was harnessed to a tree with a rope for his own safety. He started being very playful including stripping off lungis of onlookers. The calf had to fed by mouth water to drink as he has perfected to drink through his trunk. He became celebrity by posing for photos with onlookers.

As he had sustained minor injury, he had to been taken the local vet for treatment and care at the nearby Konni Elephant camp.

For a short time the locals had apprehension about a possible raid by the elephant herd searching for the calf.

Konni, in the district of Pathanmthitta, a popular caring and training centre for elephants in Kerala, where baby elephants are brought after getting separated from its herd, or found wounded and roaming lonely in the forest. Experienced trainers, who employ some of the time-tested methods to tame the baby elephants and encourage them to go back to the forest. Some training programs including making the elephants to obey commands include, daily exercises in the morning, and walk in the camp followed by bath and feeding a special healthy diet.