Elephant cub dies after falling into tea garden drain

MP, 26 Oct 2023, Jalpaiguri: An elephant cub died when it fell into a drain in the New Dooars tea garden in Bannerhat block, Jalpaiguri.

On Thursday morning, tea workers found the cub lying dead in the drain in Section 58. Janmejoy Pal, Additional Forest Officer of the Wildlife division of the Jalpaiguri District Forest Department said, “The carcass was recovered and brought to Garumara for post-mortem. The cause of death cannot be ascertained until the post-mortem report is received. However, orchard workers speculated that the cub may have died due to being washed into the garden drains.”

The New Dooars tea garden is located in between the Dina and Reti forests, hence the tea garden acts as a natural corridor between the two forests and is frequented by elephants.

Tea workers, on spotting the dead female elephant cub, reported the matter to the plantation authorities. After this, the garden informed the forest department. After getting the news, the forest workers of Binnaguri range arrived at the spot. Wild Life Warden Seema Chowdhury said: “The calf could have fallen into the drain when the elephant herd was travelling between the two jungles.”