NARATHIWAT: Two days of painstaking efforts by veterinary doctors to save an elephant which was shot by unknown gunmen, ended on a sad note when the pachyderm succumbed to its wounds yesterday evening.

Narathiwat Forestry officer Viroj Siri-umakul said the cow elephant which was found on a hill at Kampung Bera-en in the district of Ranget here had sustained serious injuries on the head and legs.

He said a shotgun was used to fire upon the elephant last week but the animal was found by villagers only two days ago.

“The elephant could have entered the farms of the villagers to forage for food,” he told reporters here today.

Chief of 45th Regiment Ranger, Col Issara Chantakrayom said investigations were also underway to determine whether the elephant was shot for its new-born calf.

This theory arose when villagers claimed they spotted the cow elephant wandering in the area with a still-suckling calf, accompanied by a bull elephant, he said.

To date, Issara said efforts to detect the calf had failed and the authorities were in the midst of tracking down those responsible for shooting the cow elephant.

– BERNAMA