Keonjhar: The recovery of the decomposed carcass of an elephant from the Chamakpur reserve forest of the Balibandh forest section under the Champua forest range in Keonjhar district has kicked off a controversy. Keonjhar Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Dhanraj HD said that the carcass was that of an old elephant that died due to age-related ailments and other natural reasons. The deceased jumbo was with the herd at the time of its death, while its tusks have been recovered, the DFO said. It was revealed that the animal was lying dead for a long time, but the Forest department discovered it late. The Forest Department seized the bones and skin of the elephant.
Later, a joint task force accompanied by Keonjhar DFO conducted a probe into its death. The death of the animal has resulted in a controversy regarding the actual reason behind it and its age at the time of death. A joint task force has gone to the scene and conducted an investigation. It is feared that efforts are being made to suppress the matter as the Forest Department has not blamed anyone or taken any action in this regard so far. Moreover, while no ivory was found during the recovery of carcass Saturday, the Forest department claimed to have recovered the tusks, Sunday. The department also claimed the deceased animal to be a female elephant. This has given rise to doubts among wildlife experts regarding the cause of death and gender of the deceased elephant. Wildlife expert Shubhendu Mallik said, “Looking at the elephant’s molted skeleton and the cavity in its mouth, it is assumed to be a male elephant that died about a month back.” A discussion with various experts and comparing the photos it is assumed to be a male elephant. So if the DNA test of the elephant’s skeleton and teeth are done, the truth will be known, he said.
He further questioned that the Forest department regularly monitors the movement of the elephants by tracking them and submits reports to their higher authorities. “How could they fail to know that the elephant was missing for almost a month as well as its gender,” he asked. He suspected that the tracking reporting is going in pen and papers and many such elephants might have gone missing or have died in Keonjhar forest, but the Forest department is yet to know about, he said. “The whole issue will come to light if the DNA test report of tusk is compared with the DNA test report of old female carcass,” he added.