When a Tamil Nadu forest guard carried a baby elephant on his shoulders


Team Udayavani, Apr 14, 2020, 3:45 PM IST

In December 2017, a forest guard in Tamil Nadu saved a baby elephant by lifting it out of a ditch and carrying it on his shoulders to reunite it with its mother. The heartwarming story of Palanichamy Sarathkumar has resurfaced on social media and is winning hearts again, thanks to a tweet from Indian Forest Services officer Dipika Bajpai.

On Monday, Ms Bajpai shared a flashback photo of Palanichamy Sarathkumar carrying the baby elephant that weighed more than him. The photo has created a buzz on the microblogging platform over two years after the incident took place, with many thanking the forest guard for his work.

 

According to BBC, Mr Sarathkumar was part of a forest team stationed near Mettupalayam in Tamil Nadu when, in December 12, 2017, he received a call about a female elephant blocking a road. He and his colleagues drove the elephant away with firecrackers and searched the area for more elephant, which is when they found the calf stuck in a ditch.

“We saw this calf stuck inside a small ditch,” said Mr Sarathkumar. “It was tired and confused so we moved a big boulder that was blocking its way and brought it out.”

But the baby elephant was too weak to walk, and its mother was nowhere to be found.

“Initially four of us carried the calf,” said Mr Sarathkumar. “We wanted to take it to the other side of the road to reunite it with its mother. But there was a danger of being attacked as she was still nearby.

So, the forest guard decided it would be safer if he alone went to reunite the baby elephant with its mother. After carrying it about 50 metres on his shoulder, he put the elephant calf – that weighed over a 100 kgs – down near a watering hole. The calf was soon reunited with its mother.

The heartwarming story, since it was posted on Twitter by Ms Bajpai, has earned Palanichamy Sarathkumar a ton of praise.

NDTV

Udayavani is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest news.

Top News

Maharashtra Polls: Eknath Shinde targets Uddhav for `giving up’ Bal Thackeray’s principles for power

Will appear before Lokayukta for questioning in MUDA case, says CM Siddaramaiah

Lies have short life, Cong’s ‘fake’ narrative smashed: Fadnavis

Temple idols found desecrated in Hyderabad, case registered

SC junks plea against quashing of LOC issued to ex-house help of Sushant Singh Rajput

JPC chairman Jagdambika Pal to visit K’taka on Nov 7 to meet farmers protesting Waqf notices

Indian boxer Mandeep Jangra wins WBF’s world title

Related Articles More

Clash between 2 groups leads to stone pelting at temple in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri

MP: Pregnant tribal woman made to wash blood stains off hospital bed as injured husband dies

Bantwal: Old video of elderly woman bursting firecrackers in hand goes viral

2-yr-old Kenyan national becomes India’s youngest pancreatic donor

Watch | Chaos in Ghaziabad court, lawyers clash with police, video goes viral

MUST WATCH

Gho Pooja in Deepavali Festival

Melukote Deepavali

Ganapathi Co-operative Society Ltd

Udayavani Chinnara Banna 2024

Annapoorna Aahar | Food Places In Mysore


Latest Additions

Davanagere: Man murdered by relative for insurance money; 4 arrested within 24 hours

Heroin worth Rs 3.5 crore recovered in police raid in Delhi, 2 arrested

Govt clerk found dead in Tahsildar’s chamber, FIR filed against minister’s PA, 2 others

Treated Muslims like fuel for ‘lantern’: Prashant Kishor targets Lalu, asks upper castes to stay away from Nitish

MP Brijesh Chowta urges Kerala CM for strict action against attack on Edneer Swamiji’s vehicle

Thanks for visiting Udayavani

You seem to have an Ad Blocker on.
To continue reading, please turn it off or whitelist Udayavani.