Rangers' two-day struggle ends with calf gone, possibly saved by mom
Park rangers tried unsuccessfully for two days to free an elephant calf from a mud pond in Thap Lan National Park in Nakhon Ratchasima, but the calf was gone by the third morning in what is believed to be a rescue by its mother.
A team of park rangers spotted the calf stuck in a mud pond in Lam Nam Khiew Forest in Tambon Ban Rat in Soeng Sang district at 4.44pm on Friday.
The calf was believed to be some two or three years old.
The team cut tree branches and laid them as a bridge for the calf to climb out of the pond but the attempt had failed by nightfall. The team then left the spot to retrieve equipment for helping the calf on the following day.
On Friday morning, the park dispatched two teams of rangers to try to help the calf.
They dug and lowered the rim of the pond for the calf to climb up the bank, but the operation failed again.
The officials noticed tracks of the elephant mother walking around the pond, so they decided to halt the rescue operation at dusk and set up a camp at a distance from the pond, waiting to return to help in on Sunday morning.
But when the officials returned to pond, the calf was gone. They spotted footsteps on the pond bank.
