Weak And Tired Assam Elephant That Travelled 1700 Km Dies In Bangladesh

Dhaka: An elephant thought to have travelled at least 1,000 miles from India into Bangladesh after becoming separated from its herd by floods died on Tuesday despite last-ditch efforts to save him.

The distressed animal was tranquillised three times in sometimes dramatic bids to try to transport him to a safari park in Bangladesh, after he washed across the border in late June.

He was eventually given huge amounts of saline and chained in a paddy field in a northern village to help him recover, but he was "too weak and tired" from his ordeal, officials said.

"It breathed its last at around 7am (0100 GMT)," the government's chief wildlife conservator Ashit Ranjan Paul told  news agency AFP.
 
Mr Paul said the animal likely travelled 1,060 miles  from the northeastern state of Assam after being separated from his herd in severe flooding.

The animal charged into a pond after Bangladesh forest officials hit him with a tranquilliser dart last Thursday.

Local villagers jumped into the pond to save the four-tonne animal from drowning by stopping it from toppling into the water.

Local media blamed excessive tranquillising for the animal's death, saying he became too weak to stand.

But Mr Paul said the long journey was responsible, adding that rescue efforts had been hampered by the thousands of curious villagers following him.

"In the end it became too tired by travelling such a great length. It had been separated from its herd for some two months and did not get the nutrients that it needed," he said.