Guwahati based wildlife NGO Aaranyak will conduct DNA test of an elephant calf and a female elephant to identify their routes.
The elephant calf, which was separated from a herd, was rescued by forest staff at Gorga Tea Estate near Tezpur on December 7.
On the other hand, the female elephant along with four others were killed at Bamgaon when speedy train hit them while crossing railway tracks. Bamgaon is 28 kilometer from Tezpur.
Five elephants, one of them pregnant, were mowed down by the Guwahati-Naharlagun epress when they were crossing the tracks in the early hours of Sunday last.
By matching the DNA samples the department wants to know if the calf was from the same herd which was hit by the train.
“As per request of State Forest department, we have already collected DNA samples of the calf and the dead female animal. The tests will take about two weeks. Only after that we can say if the DNA samples of the calf and the female elephant match,” Udayan Borthakur of Aaranyak told NE Now.
“We suspect the mother of rescued calf might have died in the train hit. To find out the fact, we are conducting the DNA tests,” The Assam Tribune quoted Conservator of Forest P Sivakumar as saying.
The calf, which was rescued from Gorga Tea Estate, is now being treated at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation at Kaziranga.
