An elephant calf drowns in Purulia

Purulia (West Bengal), Sep 19 (ANI): An 18-month old elephant calf was found drowned in a pond inside Panchet forest in west Bengal's Purulia district.

Forest officials said a herd of 22 elephants were moving from Panchet forest to the Dalma forest area when the mishap occurred.

"When they tried to cross the pond the calf drowned and the rest of the herd tried hard to save it in vain and it drowned and died," said Nilratan Panda, assistant district forest officer at Bishnupur.

Home to 60 percent of Asia's elephants, India has the highest death rate from human-elephant conflict in the world, with 200-250 people and 100 elephants being killed every year. (ANI)