An elephant calf was found dead after falling down a steep slope at a plantation in Wayanad, Kerala, with CCTV footage showing her mother and other herd members gathering around her and attempting to reach her.
The incident occurred on Sunday, October 25, at Muthumari near Kattikkulam and Mananthavady, close to the forest boundary. The recording was retrieved from a nearby plantation and circulated on Monday, October 26. Onmanorama published its account that evening; Gulf News followed with a report updated on October 27.
According to Onmanorama’s local reporting, the calf can be heard crying out as she rolls down the incline. Adult elephants remain nearby, and loud trumpeting is audible. Their movements were described by the outlet as attempts to reach and rescue the young animal.
Personnel from the North Wayanad Forest Division’s Rapid Response Team reached the area on Sunday after being alerted. They could not initially get close because the herd was gathered around the calf. The reports describe a difficult approach to an animal surrounded by adult elephants, rather than an operation in which responders immediately had access.
On Monday morning, personnel from the Begur Forest Range joined the response team. After moving the herd back toward the forest, officers were able to approach and found the calf dead. Forest officials said the body was subsequently buried.
A later Mirror Now report dated October 27 added that the calf was about 18 months old. It attributed to Begur Range Forest Officer S. Kannan the account that the incident was considered accidental and no case had been registered.
The same report said a post-mortem examination found the calf had herpes. It did not publish the examination report or establish in detail how infection and the fall each contributed to her death. The available accounts therefore do not justify treating the fall alone as a medically confirmed cause, or assigning a specific virus subtype.
The CCTV post embedded below was shared by Siraj Noorani and cited in Gulf News’s coverage. It contains distressing footage of the calf and herd. Its description gives a fall height that the local reporting reviewed here does not independently establish.
#Kerala– A baby elephant that was roaming with its mother in #Wayanad district of Kerala state fell into a 100-foot gorge and died. CCTV footage of the mother elephant trying to rescue the calf that rolled down the gorge. pic.twitter.com/UKtODghwhB
— Siraj Noorani (@sirajnoorani) October 26, 2026
If the player does not load, view the original post on X.
Gulf News placed the incident alongside other reports of adult elephants remaining near injured or dead calves, including a road collision in Malaysia and a hillside fall reported in Bangladesh in 2025. Those are separate events. In Wayanad, the documented outcome was the loss of the calf after officers gained access the following morning; the footage cannot establish the animals’ thoughts or show that a different intervention would have changed that outcome.
