A two-year-old male elephant died after it fell into a drain on a tea estate in Jalpaiguri district early on Wednesday morning.

The calf was part of a 70-member elephant herd that had entered the Nepuchapur tea estate from the neighbouring Targhera forest. The garden is in Malbazar block.

Other members of the herd, particularly a female elephant suspected to be the mother, tried to pull the calf out of the drain but failed. Foresters who reached the spot also attempted to rescue the calf, but it died.

“The herd was returning to the forest around 3am when the calf slipped into a drain on the tea plantation. The elephants tried to drag it out of the drain. We also tried to rescue it, but the calf eventually died. We have recovered the body and are waiting for the post-mortem report,” said Ankan Nandi, range officer of the wildlife squad stationed in Malbazar.

When the calf fell into the drain, other elephants started trumpeting. “We were in deep sleep and woke up, hearing the sound of elephants. Soon after, we rushed to the plantation and saw the elephants filling the drain with earth. It was disheartening to see the animals burying the calf that had died by then,” said Sanjib Kerketta, a tea estate worker.

The foresters said elephants would bury the carcass if a member of a herd died.

“The foresters had also reached, but they could not do much as the herd was standing there for quite some time. Later, the carcass was retrieved,” said Etoa Rautia, another worker.

The carcass, foresters said, was taken to the Gorumara National Park, where vets conducted the post-mortem.