IWN Report — Thursday, 24 September 2026

A wild bull elephant found with a suspected spear wound and a clouded left eye near a tea estate in Assam’s Sonitpur district a month ago is still under treatment, with vets tracking whether his eyesight will come back.

The elephant, known to the rescue team as Makhna, was first spotted on 25 August leaning against a tree near Kacharigaon Tea Estate in Rangapara, unable to put weight on his left foreleg. According to the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), a team gave him preliminary treatment four days later, on 29 August, but the wound near his elbow — suspected to be from a spear — needed more than antiseptic. Vets also found a clouding of the cornea in his left eye, with suspected partial loss of vision.

On 12 September, a joint team of WTI vets and Assam Forest Department staff, working out of the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) — which WTI runs jointly with the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the Assam Forest Department — chemically immobilised Makhna for a full examination in Sonitpur West Division. They cleaned out a pus-filled wound and dosed it with antimicrobial ointment and injectable antibiotics, then treated the eye with a subconjunctival injection, delivered straight into the tissue around it.

“Considering the severity of the injury, the elephant requires intensive post-operative care,” said Dr Panjit Basumatary of WTI, one of the vets who operated on him. As of WTI’s update on 23 September — eleven days after the surgery — Makhna remained on a course of oral antibiotics expected to run at least a fortnight, meant to help the wound close up clean. It isn’t yet clear whether he will regain full movement in the leg or full sight in the eye; the team says further intervention is possible if either one doesn’t improve.

Sources: Wildlife Trust of India · International Fund for Animal Welfare