Dhama: A tusker succumbed to the bullets of poachers even as forest officials recovered its bullet ridden carcass at Basiapada- Birsinghgad reserve forest under Sadar forest range in Sambalpur district, Wednesday. The carcass was recovered about 200-mtrs from Ichhapali village under Dakara panchayat of this block.
Preliminary inquiries indicated that the tusker was shot by poachers and might have died due to lack of timely treatment. It roamed from jungle to jungle and finally succumbed to injuries after being affected by septicemia. It is suspected that the incident might have occurred a fortnight back. It was initially suspected that the pachyderm might have died of electrocution which was rejected by the forest officials.
The matter came to the fore after villagers noticed the carcass lying in the forest and informed Sadar forest range officials. Dhama ranger Alok Sarangi and his sadar counterpart Gouri Shankar Das rushed to the spot with a team of veterinarians and forensic experts and started an investigation.
The tusker aged 15 weighed three tonnes and was eight feet in length. Veterinarian Dr Satyajit Panda conducted post-mortem of the carcass when he found two four-inch long bullets from its leg and ivory and an iron splinter from its back.
Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Tejraj Nayak and Gokul Chandra Paika visited the spot and took stock of the animal’s death. Later, the carcass was buried at the spot. It may be mentioned here that another elephant died under similar circumstances in the state about three months back.
Forest officials recently had arrested a poacher who confessed to having killed 20 elephants, mostly tuskers, in his lifetime in Durgaprasad village near Narsinghpur in Cuttack,” said Sasmita Lenka, Divisional Forest Officer, Athagarh.
The poacher charged Rs30,000 for every bullet he shot. Mahalik was arrested from Boudh district for wildlife crimes in 2019. “During interrogations, he confessed to having killed 20 elephants in the past. In 2018, he and his accomplices were responsible for the beheading of two elephants in our division,” Lenka said.