An orphaned two-month-old elephant calf was found in Kyauk Chaung Kyi near Irrawaddy Division’s Chaung Tha on Sunday after her mother was slain by poachers.
“The mother’s dead body was found in Kyauk Chaung Kyi Monday night. Hunters skinned the elephant and cut off her tusks,” said Dr. Myo Min Aung, veterinarian and head of the Myanmar Timber Enterprise’s (MTE) Emergency Elephant Response Unit in Irrawaddy Division.
The orphaned female calf is about three feet high and is being cared for by the MTE and the forestry department at Shaw Pyar logging camp, he added.
She was named “Mary” by Dr. Myo Min Aung, as she was found on Christmas Day.
“The calf’s health is good and we are feeding her milk every two hours and she takes a bath twice a day. There is always someone beside her to take care of her,” Dr. Myo Min Aung said.
Mary was found by residents of Myat San village who informed the forestry department.
Approximately 200 wild elephants live in the forests of Irrawaddy Division but the population is declining due to poaching.
“On average one elephant was killed each month, but in December two elephants were killed,” said Dr. Myo Min Aung. “The forestry police are investigating hunters in the forest areas.”
The vet said Mary will be handed over to MTE’s Emergency Elephant Response Unit to live at one of their elephant camps in Irrawaddy Division once she is a little older.
