BENGALURU: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Thursday that he would immediately address the concern raised by Rahul Gandhi in the case of an injured baby elephant.
"Rahul Gandhi has written a letter to us. During his visit to the Nagarhole forest, he has sighted an elephant and a calf. He noticed that the calf was injured in its tail and trunk.
"I have reached Bengaluru just now. I will take all details in this regard from the senior forest officers and talk to them immediately," he said.
CM Bommai further said, "There will be an immediate action regarding the elephants on what can be done and in 30 minutes I will get all the details.
"Those are natural habitats (Nagarhole forest), how far human interference could be made has to be seen and verified. It has also to be seen on how the treatment should be given. What he (Rahul Gandhi) has raised, I will respond to it," he stated.
"The issue is being raised on humanitarian grounds and will do what has to be done", he added.
Rahul Gandhi in his letter addressed to CM Bommai had said that the Congress President and himself during their visit to the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve happened to witness a painful sight of an injured baby elephant with its mother.
"The little calf has a severely injured tail and trunk, and is fighting for its life. I understand and appreciate that there is a view that nature must be allowed to take its own course. However, in the case of endangered and iconic species, exceptions are often made depending on severity of the situation. The aforementioned calf is undoubtedly in need of urgent medical care.
"Therefore, I wanted to cross political boundaries and appeal to your sense of compassion to intervene and save the little elephant," Rahul Gandhi wrote in the letter.