By Sulochana Das
Bhubaneswar: Calf elephant Kalinga, which hogged the headlines for several weeks after it strayed into the Capital city and its subsequent return to the wild a fortnight ago, is no more.

The seven-month-old elephant calf was found dead inside the Chandaka Wildlife Sanctuary on the outskirts of the city on Sunday.

The calf elephant was named Kalinga as it had entered the Kalinga Studio premises along with five elderly pachyderms on May 3 night.

It had got separated from the group the next day after it fell into a ditch. The herd returned to Chandaka forests on the night of May 6 after it failed to trace the calf.

Kalinga's carcass was spotted in a puddle of water about one km away from the Bharatpur watch tower of the sanctuary.

The calf elephant was last sighted inside the sanctuary by the forest department staff on June 25.

Divisional Forest Officer of Chandaka sanctuary Akshaya Patnaik said that the entire sanctuary staff was sad over the death of Kalinga.

The sanctuary employees, who had taken care of the elephant calf for 40 days, had heaved a sigh of relief after Kalinga was taken inside the forest by a group of elephants from near the makeshift enclosure on June 16.

The calf was also spotted by the sanctuary staff while moving with its mother and other elephants in the wild after the reunion.

The sanctuary officials denied that Kalinga died due to starvation or attack by other elephants. The calf was accepted well in the herd after it returned to the sanctuary, they said.

The post-mortem report indicated that the elephant calf had not died due to starvation.

When Kalinga was kept in an enclosure adjacent to Chandaka after it was left behind by the herd of elephants from the sanctuary, wildlife lovers had expressed apprehension that the calf would not be taken back to the wild for it had come in contact with the humans.

However, the hope of the sanctuary officials that calf might be taken back by the elephants from the wilds became strong when an elephant came near the calf on June 12 and tried to take it along. Kalinga, however, failed to respond. It was again left behind by the elephant which went back to join its group that was waiting at a distance.

The elephants, however, returned again on June 16 to take Kalinga back to the wild thereby disproving the argument that an elephant calf is usually not accepted by the wild elephants after it comes in human contact.

This time there were two herds. While one came near Kalinga and took it back, the other kept a watch on the reunion at a distance.

Whatever the reason behind Kalinga's death, wildlife lovers and particularly the sanctuary employees who fed the calf with milk and other feeds to keep him alive for about six weeks will surely remember the sad story of the calf for a long time to come.