Baripada, Aug. 1: The Similipal Tiger Reserve is constructing an enclosure for a baby elephant that is being groomed in captivity inside the national park.

Named Bablu, the male calf has been lodged in a Baripada forest division nursery since it was rescued about eight months ago.

A Similipal official said the calf would be shifted from the Bhanjkia nursery to the enclosure in Pithabata immediately even thought the shed was not yet ready.

"There is an urgent need to shift the calf from the nursery to a bigger area," said Bhanumitra Acharya, an honorary wildlife warden.

Similipal Tiger Reserve deputy director Ajit Satpathy said: "Although we had planned to keep the calf along with five other elephants in captivity, we are now thinking of releasing it in the forest after about five years."

The calf had been abandoned by its mother and other members of the herd after it came in human contact when it was rescued by wildlife staff from a pit under Dukura range.

Then about three months old, the calf survived on substitute food supplement and was sheltered in a room of the Baripada nursery at night.

Similipal Tiger Reserve authorities had initially planned to train the jumbo as a kunki, which means a trained elephant.

However, they have now discarded the idea and are thinking of releasing the animal in the wild once it grows up and develops survival instincts to be able to cope in the wild environment.

The 10-month-old calf has now become too big for the nursery necessitating its transfer to the Pithabata range to ensure adequate space for its free movement.