Officials with the Forest Department said that the carcass of the elephant was found at Pethikuttai forest beat of Sirumugai range.
The dead elephant was aged around 10, a sub-adult, said forest officials.
The rotten carcass, around five days old, was found inside Myilmokkai within Pethikuttai beat, close to the backwater area of Bhavani Sagar Dam. Both tusks of the elephant were intact.
The carcass was autopsied by forest veterinary surgeon N.S. Manoharan.
“The carcass was found in a decaying stage. Preliminary investigation showed infection in the intestinal tract of the animal. Samples of internal organs have been collected for clinical examination. Both tusks were handed over to Sirumugai range officer E.N. Manoharan,” said Dr. Manoharan after the autopsy.
Internal organs burnt
While internal organs of the elephant were burnt to avoid possible threat of infection, remaining parts of the carcass were buried in a deep pit within the forest.
While a four-year-old male elephant was found dead in the backwater area of Bhavani Sagar dam at Pethikuttai on May 2, a 50-year-old female elephant died without responding to treatment by Forest Department in the same range on June, 22.
On June 29, a newborn male elephant calf was found dead in Bhavani river coming under Gobanari reserve forest of Karamadai range.