The Medinipur forest division sought help from the Wildlife Wing to treat a young injured elephant that could not walk due to an injured leg. The herd kept returning to the injured elephant whenever they were driven away. A local man was feeding the immobile elephant with tree branches. The villagers helped scare off the herd so the injured elephant could be treated. Veterinarians used a dart gun to sedate the elephant, cleaned and treated its wound, and administered antibiotics before bandaging the leg. They poured water on the elephant to regulate its temperature after treatment but could not stay overnight due to unsafe conditions with the herd nearby.

1. VET IN THE FOREST
1. Why was the help sought from the Wildlife Wing of the Forest Department?
Answer: The Medinipur forest division sought the help of the Wildlife Wing of the
Forest Department to
treat a young injured elephant.
2. Why couldn’t the elephant walk?
Answer: The elephant couldn’t walk because its leg was injured.
3. Why couldn’t the herd of elephants be driven away?
Answer: Every time the elephants were driven away they came back to take their
injured teammate.
4. How did the young man know where the injured elephant was?
Answer: The young man knew where the elephant was because he was the one
who was feeding it with
branches of trees as it was immobile.
5. How did the tribal people suffer?
Answer: Their fields were regularly ravaged by the elephants during the crop
season.
6. Why did the villagers shout and burst crackers?
Answer: The team who had come to treat the injured elephant wanted to isolate
the animal from its herd
to treat it. The villagers shouted and burst crackers to frighten and chase the
animals away, so that the
injured would lag behind.
7. What happened when the dart gun was fired?

2. Answer: The elephant started walking faster at first. After a few minutes the
animal started feeling dizzy
and lay down.
8. Describe how the wound was cleaned and treated?
Answer: A deep incision was made on the swollen part of the leg which resulted
in a flow of black blood.
The wound was treated and an injection of antibiotic was administered. Then the
leg was bandaged.
9. Why was water poured on the elephant after the treatment?
Answer: Water was poured on the drugged animal to keep the body temperature
down.
10. Why couldn’t the team stay overnight with the animal?
Answer: There were no trees strong enough to support a platform from where
they could observe the
animal. The rest of the animals were just a few metres away from them. It was
unsafe for them to stay
there.