Bhubaneswar, Sept. 25: A newborn elephant, which was rescued from a forested area in Koraput district last month and is recuperating in the city, will shortly find a new home at Nandankanan Zoo.

Though sources said the zoo authorities had not entertained an official communication from forest officials on September 2 requesting them to house the female calf, Nandankanan director Sudarshan Panda said they were waiting for it to recover completely. “After that, we will keep it in our zoo,” said Panda.

The calf, born on August 1, had suffered 25 cuts on several parts of its body, including its trunk, back and belly, after falling into a 200-ft trench near Bijaghati in Narayanpatna block of Koraput on August 6. Its mother, which was moving in a herd, left it behind in a critical condition after failing to help it out of the ditch.

Forest officials, who rescued the baby elephant, shifted it to the Regional Centre for Wildlife Health (RCWH) at the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology on August 13. Doctors treating it said that 90 per cent of the calf’s injuries had healed and other wounds were being dressed frequently.

“When it reached here, we used to feed it a mixture of lactogen and water. The lactogen amount has been increased from seven to 17 spoons now. A team is looking after the calf round the clock,” said veterinary surgeon at RCWH Niranjan Sahu.

Animal experts ruled out the option of sending it back to the forest. “The mother elephant would have accepted her baby only within 10 days of its birth. However, doctors had to keep it in the centre for treatment for over a month because of its critical condition. This leaves us with no option but to send it to a rescue centre such as Nandankanan where vets can look after it,” said RCWH expert . Divisional forest officer of Koraput district Bijay Kumar Panda said he would request the zoo officials to move the calf to Nandankanan at the earliest.