Wildbuzz: I can do it on my own: Bani

* We can do a lot, even without legs. Sir Douglas Bader epitomised one of the most inspirational lives of warfare. The British airman had both his legs amputated before World War II following a crash but insisted on flying a Spitfire as the Battle for Britain commenced in earnest in 1940. He nailed 22 German aircraft, was shot down in 1941, taken POW, but his indomitable spirit ensured the RAF’s highly-decorated warrior tried to escape multiple times on artificial legs!

Far across time, culture and species, a similar, very dogged battle against destiny is underway. This time, waged by a baby jungle warrior. She already weighs 300 kg, though! Bani is an elephant calf who lost her mother in a train collision outside Jim Corbett NP last month. The calf suffered a paralysing blow from the train to her hindquarters.

Her initial plight, and the exemplary care delivered to her by the Wildlife SOS Elephant Hospital at Mathura, was illustrated in these columns of February 18 last. The little orphan’s tragedy --- a child of a lesser Ganesha --- attracted global attention. There was an outpouring of teary sentiments for the wild ‘baby girl’ on social media. Named after mother earth, Bani was initially reduced to lying inert on her side due to injuries to her hindquarters which restricted voluntary movements in her back legs. Since then, Bani’s caregivers and veterinarians strained every sinew of heart, mind and medicine to give her a fighting chance. However, it was her fierce desire to stand, to explore her brave new world, to communicate with other elephants in the hospital and to indulge in dust / water bathing that enabled progress from the cliff edge of hopelessness.

Standing up is critical for Bani because that avoids bed sore risks and helps blood circulation. It exercises her limbs while she indulges in dust baths. “Bani is now able to sit on her own like any elephant. After intense physiotherapy sessions, she is able to stand for 4-6 hours, a big improvement from a few minutes in the early days of her treatment. She requires our support to get into the upright posture. That one, and when she is standing entirely on her own, she wants her caregivers to keep well away. She is telling them: ‘I can do it on my own’. One can see her excitement and eagerness to explore the new world around her when she stands. After all, she is a wild rescue who spent 9.5 months in the wilderness before she suffered injury and possesses a wild will, her own agency. During the standing period, she loses her balance a few times. She then gladly accepts our assistance to restore her. She realises we are trying to help her. She gets frustrated when she wants to walk....but her little body won’t cooperate…at least not yet. The next stage will be to get Bani to walk a few steps,” Wildlife SOS veterinary officer Dr. E. Gochalan told this writer.

Apart from caregivers working in shifts, Bani’s 24x7 attendant is the humble and deeply-loving Vijay Soren. “Initially, Bani was in much pain and suffering a lot. But we have seen her improve so much. Now, whenever we help her stand up, she appears to be quite playful. A lot of it has to do with her own willpower. Her hind legs are still not fully functional and yet we see her trying ever so hard to stand up and walk. I have been beside her and taking care of her for over a month, and her tiny attempts at walking shows her never-ending fighting spirit,” Soren told this writer.

Indomitable Bani knows no full stops to her life. The calf has emerged as a little girl full of playful energies, sometimes very affectionate, sometimes surly in her interactions with observant caregivers. Even her tail waggles now, a major improvement from her initial inertness. ‘Our only wish is to see Bani get better. She even playfully pushes some of the caregivers, but we still don’t leave her side. That’s how connected we are. Because we know that she is a child, and she isn’t aware if she is committing a mistake or not. We are there with her 24x7, sleeping and spending our days with her. Bani is like our own child. It has been a long while since we haven’t gone home, but that’s not a problem. We will take a holiday and visit our homes once our child gets better,” added Soren.

The Wildlife SOS released a pithy, thoughtful and empathetic perspective: “It is tempting to call this an unfortunate accident, but in reality, 186 elephants have been killed on India’s train tracks since 2009. Were Indian Railways (IR) to prevent trains from speeding through wildlife corridors or utilise AI early-warning technology, this mother would be alive and Bani wouldn’t have had to suffer life-threatening injuries. The IR must, immediately, reduce train speeds in wildlife corridors so that elephants have a chance to get out of the way. Advancements in AI early-warning technology detect and alert trains of elephants near train tracks, but these are not being widely used.”

A long, long road lies ahead to Bani’s recovery. She will remain, to an extent, impaired forever due to a train bulldozing thoughtlessly at high speed through a legitimate elephant corridor --- one centuries old.

Yet, she keeps trying and pushing herself to stand. Bravo Bani, Jungle ki Jhansi ki Rani!

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