Jamalpur, Aug 16 (UNB)-Proving all efforts by the rescue team to keep it alive, the Indian stray elephant ‘Bangabahadur’ that entered the Bangladesh territory floating with currents of floodwater about one and a half months ago, died at Koyra village in Sarishabari upazila on Tuesday. Wildlife inspector Asim Mallik said the elephant died failing to withstand excessive temperature around 6:30 am. However, locals alleged that the elephant might have died due to overdose of the tranquiliser which was administered to it by special guns four times on Sunday. The rescuers had been trying to move the elephant from the area for the last several days. Earlier, on Thursday, a veterinary surgeon at Banghabandhu Safari Park in Gazipur injected the elephant with tranquiliser by using a special gun and in reaction to that the elephant started jumping off and fell into a nearby pond. Later, locals pulled the tranquilised elephant out of the water and later it was tied to a tree with a nylon rope. Since then efforts were being made to bring the animal under control to take it to Banghabandhu Safari Park. On August 3, a three-member Indian team came to Bangladesh to give support to a 17-member Bangladeshi team for the rescue of the elephant. The elephant was swept away with the floodwater of the trans-boundary Brahmaputra River from Assam of India into Kurigram district on Roumari border on June 28. It wondered across Bogra, Sirajganj, finally into Dewanganj of Jamalpur district along the Brahmaputra and the Jamuna rivers for about one and a half months, looking for shelter and food while struggling against the floodwater. Finally, the elephant took shelter at Koyra village from where it was put under human control.
