BARIPADA:Carcass of a female elephant was found in Subarnamanjari under Dukura range inside Similipal Biosphere Reserve in Mayurbhanj district on Tuesday.
The elephant was part of a herd of 16 elephants and had fallen into a gorge on Monday. The herd, including tuskers, was spotted moving in and around Subarnamanjari for more than a week.
Forest officials, led by Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF) Arun Kumar Patra and Dukura ranger Batakrushna Padhee, reached the spot with a team of veterinary surgeons after the herd had moved from the spot following the elephant’s death.
DFO Sanjay Kumar Swain said the elephant was about seven years old and died after falling into a gorge.
The jumbo suffered severe head injuries leading to its death. Two small ‘tushs’ were found intact and were recovered during postmortem, he said.
Deputy Director of Similipal Biosphere Reserve Ajit Kumar Satpathy denied the allegation of poaching because it was a female jumbo. “The cause of its death can be ascertained once we get the autopsy report,” he said and urged the locals not to term all elephant deaths as poaching without proof.
—