Bengaluru: Sidda, a male elephant which has fractured its front right leg after falling into a ditch in the backwaters of Manchanabele dam in Ramanagara district nearly two months ago, is sinking.
It has stopped eating since Tuesday morning. The doctors, however, have continued to treat it with painkillers and IV fluids. But the jumbo was not responding to treatment and was lying on the ground since morning. Forest staff were splashing water on the body to keep it cool. The elephant was unable to swallow water and is refusing to eat grass.
Veterinarians said that a healthy elephant drinks around 250 litres of water and plenty of foliage a day. However, Sidda's intake of water was less than 50 litres which was a matter of worry. Sidda was not eating the grass, sugar cane, maize and ragi balls given to him by forest staff. The jumbo has become so weak that it was not able to stand up to graze.
A senior forest officer said that given the seriousness of the injury, Siddas’ survival chance was less than 30 per cent. Despite its deteriorating health condition, doctors from Bannerghatta National Park were camping at the spot to treat the injured elephant. They were making all efforts to revive him by administering him with glucose, painkillers and antibiotics. Sidda has suffered a compound fracture on its front right leg because of which the pressure of entire body was falling on one leg.
