The Indian government has cleared a proposal to send a rescue team to Bangladesh to bring back an elephant stranded in that country after being washed away by strong currents of the Brahmaputra in northeastern state of Assam.

Officials of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said on Tuesday that they had received the political clearance for the visit by an expert team to Bangladesh.

The chief wildlife warden of Assam is trying to get visa for members of the team.

Project Elephant director RK Srivastava told PTI that it was decided to send the rescue team to Bangladesh on August 3 for rescuing the animal but it would depend on factors like weather condition.

“The Project Elephant division of the ministry is constantly in touch with the Bangladesh forest department, chief wildlife wardens of Assam and Meghalaya and other relevant agencies to rescue the stranded elephant and bring it back to India,” he said.

The Bangladesh forest department is constantly tracking the movement of the stranded elephant, the official said.

On June 27, it was reported that a wild female elephant was separated from its herd in Assam and floated along with the currents of the Brahmaputra river into Bangladesh.

In search of food, the pachyderm is now reportedly in conflict with villagers living in those regions.

“The elephant has reportedly become feeble due to lack of food so her rescue at the earliest is necessary to prevent further distress to her as well as the locals living in the region,” Humane Society International, an animal rights NGO, had said in a statement recently.