Chennai:
A newborn premature elephant calf is battling for survival in Tamil Nadu's Mudumalai jungle area. Forest officials say the mother elephant probably delivered the calf while crossing a road and since early Monday morning the new born has not had milk.
Authorities say the calf is unable to stand and the mother is helpless. A herd of elephants stand guard around the mother and her calf.
Mr Amir Khaja, Deputy Director of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve told NDTV "we've managed to use a Khamki (trained elephant) to move the calf to a safe area off the road but we are worried that any intervention by us at this time would lead to the mother abandoning the calf".
"The calf requires mother's milk for immunity and if anything else is fed at this stage the baby elephant may not survive," he added.
A team of doctors and forest officials are closely monitoring the situation and are hoping against hope that the new born would survive.