COIMBATORE: Forest department officials recovered the carcass of a one-month-old male elephant from Bhavani River at Poochamarathur beat in Kobanari reserve forest coming under Karamadai forest range on Thursday. The calf was swept away in flash flood while crossing the river, department officials said.
A team of field staff, who were on routine rounds, had noticed the carcass. They alerted Karamadai forest range officer R Muthukrishnan, who rushed to the spot along with a team of field staff. Deputy director of forest veterinary NS Manoharan also reached the spot. A post-mortem was conducted at the spot and the carcass was cremated in the reserve forest area.
“Due to the southwest monsoon that began a few days ago, heavy rain is lashing the Western Ghats. Many rivers have heavy flows and flash floods. The elephant calf could not withstand the heavy flow in the Bhavani,” said ranger Muthukrishnan.
Only the catchment area of Siruvani has received heavy rains, S Ramasubramanian, conservator of forest, Coimbatore circle, told TOI. “Many reserve forests in Coimbatore forest division did not get sufficient rain. However, elephant deaths due to starvation will come down due to the rain,” he said.
Forest ranger officer from Boluvampatti forest range C Dineshkumar, said the department had imposed a ban on bathing at Kovai Courtallam for three days due to flash floods.