Two Elephants Found Dead In Odisha; One Succumbs After Suspected Fight With Another Tusker

Bhubaneswar: Two tuskers were found dead in Cuttack and Sundargarh districts in Odisha on Saturday.

One tusker succumbed to severe injuries sustained during suspected fight with another tusker inside Kusumura reserve forest near Karuabahal village of Ujjalpur range of Sundargarh Forest Division (SFD). The elephant tracking squads spotted the injured tusker last night and accordingly, SFD authorities along with veterinary doctors reached the spot this morning. It, however, collapsed and died between 10 and 10.30 am as preparations were on to tranqualise it for cleaning of the wounds for treatment.

The tusker had arrived from the adjacent forest of Chhattisgarh, Sundargarh Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Pradeep Mirase told TNIE.

After close examination of the carcass, the veterinary authorities concluded the tusker died of fatal injuries  with deep piercing from tusks of another tusker following a deadly fight about 4-5 days, he said, adding that blood-stained broken tusks of the dead elephant was found nearby.

In the incident reported from Narasinghpur in Cuttack district, the tusker aged 10-12 years was found dead in a garden close to a gas office in Rangdaba. Authorities are looking into the circumstances leading to its death.