“Two elephants, a male and a female, were found dead in Segur range of forests a few days ago. The post-mortem operation of the two animals was conducted without any witness, except for forest officials,” alleged a wildlife activist pleading anonymity. The press was also not informed about the incident. “This suspicious act of the forest officials is highly condemnable,” he added. “Last Sunday, a female elephant was found dead in the Segur range of forests. The post-mortem was conducted by forest veterinarian Dr Vijayaraghavan on Monday. While heading to the spot, forest officials were informed of another elephant carcass found a few kilometres away in the same range. The vet conducted the post-mortem of both carcasses on Monday,” said C Badrasamy, district forest officer.
According to the DFO, the female elephant, estimated to be 25 years old, would have died at least 10 days ago. “The cause of death could not be determined as most of the flesh was scavenged,” he said.
The tusker, aged around 15 years, might have died two or three days ago. “It had external injuries. We suspect in-fighting to be the cause of death. The tusks were in tact and recovered,” Badrasamy said. When TOI asked the forest veterinarian if an NGO member was present to witness the post-mortem, he said only the DFO could answer the question. He did however say that they were unable to contact any NGO. The members of WWF were busy developing transact lines in the area, and thus they could not stand in as witness, he added.
A senior forest official, who sits in Chennai said, “Invariably, a member of an authorized NGO or a local body representative should be present during the post-mortem of an elephant as it falls under schedule I category. The main reason is to avoid controversies over the cause of death with regard to poaching. There is a standard direction from the chief wildlife warden in this regard. The presence of the DFO is must during the autopsy, he added.