Haldwani, July 29 -- Forest department officials rescued a two- to three-month-old elephant calf after it remained separated from its herd for more than 24 hours in the Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) and shifted it to the Jhirna forest outpost for temporary care, officials said on Tuesday. The calf was found wandering alone in the grasslands of the Jhirna range, prompting forest personnel to launch efforts to reunite it with its herd. According to CTR director Saket Badola, patrolling staff spotted the lone calf on Monday and suspected it had strayed from its herd. Forest personnel remained in the area, monitoring the calf while waiting for the herd to return."When the herd did not arrive for a long time, senior officials were informed. We decided to leave the calf in its natural habitat so that its herd could reclaim it upon returning. Later in the evening, a herd of elephants entered the area but did not accept or take the calf along, raising the possibility that it belonged to a different herd," Badola said. After the attempted reunion failed, the calf was shifted to the Jhirna forest outpost for temporary care. Badola said the calf would be released back into the same grassland under forest department supervision in the hope that its original herd would return."The herd that visited earlier may not have been the calf's original group. We are hopeful that its own herd will accept it when it returns," he said. The calf remains under constant observation as forest personnel continue efforts to ensure its safe reunion with the herd while minimising human intervention.According to the state forest department's elephant census, Uttarakhand has 2,026 elephants, a 29.9% increase since 2015. The state recorded 1,559 elephants in 2012 and 1,839 in 2017....