In a deeply moving scene that has touched many, a mother elephant stood vigil for six days beside her dead calf near Kaptai Lake in Rangamati’s Barkal upazila, refusing to leave its side.
Forest officials finally managed to retrieve and bury the carcass on Sunday morning in the Barunachhari area of Liton Tila village after the grieving mother briefly moved away.
Md Matiur Rahman, Station Officer of the Kachalongmukh Forest Checkpost, confirmed the development. “The mother had stayed close to the calf for days, charging at anyone who came near. Only this morning, when she moved a little distance away, we were able to recover the body and bury it,” he told The Daily Star.
Md Rafiquzzaman Shah, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of the North Chattogram Hill Tracts Forest Division, said that samples were collected from the carcass and sent to the CF Wildlife Laboratory for forensic testing. “The mother and the herd have now moved a bit away from the site,” he added.
According to the forest department, the calf likely slipped on the hilly terrain and drowned in the waters of Kaptai Lake last Monday night. Despite repeated attempts by forest staff to retrieve the body earlier, the mother’s protective behavior made it impossible.
The sight of the mother elephant’s grief, standing guard over her calf’s body for nearly a week — has sparked widespread emotion on social media, highlighting the depth of animal empathy and the fragile coexistence between humans and wildlife in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
