Heartbroken mother elephant tries to wake up dead calf for hours in Chhattisgarh
A mother elephant in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh stayed beside her drowned calf for hours and tried repeatedly to wake it. The incident has renewed attention on elephant grieving behaviour and repeated calf deaths in the district.
A heartbreaking scene from the forests of Raigarh in Chhattisgarh, is leaving people emotional after a mother elephant was seen desperately trying to wake her dead calf, refusing to leave its side for hours.
The incident took place in the Chhal Range under the Dharamjaigarh forest division, where a herd of 39 elephants had arrived near a pond-like water body in Pusalda village late at night to bathe. During the visit, a young elephant calf accidentally drowned in the pond.
But what followed shattered the hearts of villagers and forest officials alike.
According to local reports, the mother elephant stayed beside the lifeless calf through the night, repeatedly lifting it with her trunk and nudging it gently with her feet, almost as if trying to wake the baby up. Witnesses said she simply could not accept that her calf was gone.
Here's the video:
Villagers who gathered near the spot described the scene as deeply painful to watch. Several people reportedly broke down after seeing the helpless mother continue her attempts to revive the calf.
Adding to the emotional atmosphere, other elephants from the herd were also seen standing nearby and trumpeting loudly, almost appearing to mourn the death together.
Forest department officials later reached the location after villagers informed them about the incident. However, even after officials arrived, the elephant reportedly refused to move away from her calf’s body.
The incident has once again highlighted the emotional depth animals are capable of feeling, especially elephants, which are widely known for their strong family bonds, intelligence, and grieving behaviour.
What makes the tragedy even more concerning is that this is not an isolated incident. According to forest department data, eight elephant calves have died in different parts of Raigarh district over the past five months due to drowning, weakness, and accidents.
For many online, however, beyond the statistics, it was the image of a grieving mother refusing to leave her child behind that stayed impossible to forget.
(With inputs from Naresh Sharma)