Talcher: A female elephant died after falling into a ditch in Taunsi forest near Lingarakata village under this block in Angul district Monday.
The incident comes a day after an elderly villager Bikram Pradhan (60) of Lingarakata village was trampled to death by a herd of 25 elephants Saturday night.
Environmentalists have expressed serious concerns over the death of the pachyderm. The elephant is stated to have died when the villagers and forest officials tried to drive away the herd which had camped on the village outskirts.
The matter came to the fore after villagers noticed the carcass lying in the ditch and informed the forest officials. A team led by forest ranger Trilochan Behera, forester Lijalini Sahoo and other officials rushed to the spot and took stock of the situation.
The elephant is believed to be about eight years old, the forest ranger said. A post-mortem was conducted on the carcass before burying it.
Preliminary inquiries indicated that the elephant might have fallen into the ditch and died on the way while following other members of the herd. It tried hard to come out of the ditch but failed in its bid after getting stuck in the mud and slush and died.
PNN