The population of captive elephants at the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) near here has gone up with the birth of a male calf late on Tuesday night.

The mother aged about 23 was one of the elephants captured in August 2013 at Tiruvannamalai as part of ‘Operation Malai’ which was launched to deal with a herd from the Javadhu hills which had been straying into nearby habitations.

Along with it a male aged about 13 and a male calf had been brought and kept in kralls (wooden enclosures for taming and training elephants) at Bambax, a secluded part of the MTR. They were brought out recently.

Forest sources told The Hindu that about six months ago the mother which was the matriarch of the herd had shown signs of being pregnant.

As a result its feeding pattern had been changed to suit its health.

It was expected that the calf would be born about a month or two later.

However the labour pangs had started last night and shortly before midnight the mother elephant delivered a male calf.

To a question, the sources said that both the mother and calf are in good health. The calf had accepted its mother’s colostrum and was displaying an eagerness to suckle. The mother was also friendly with its mahout and kavadi. Visitors will not be allowed at Bambax.

The calf has become the 28th member of the elephant camp at the MTR.

Meanwhile, some wildlife activists here expressed the view that wild elephants should be allowed to roam free and not kept in kralls.