Athagarh/Sambalpur: The carcasses of two tuskers were recovered Monday from a forest in Cuttack district and a village road under Jujumura block in Sambalpur district. In the first incident, a tusker was found dead under mysterious circumstances at Sorishapal reserve forest in Jenapada forest beat under Athagarh forest division in Cuttack district. The matter came to the fore after Athagarh divisional forest officer Jagnya Dutta Pati and Forest officials rushed to the spot and seized the carcass after being tipped off about the animal’s death. The carcass was found lying near the Rengali south canal inside the Sorishapal reserve forest.
The Forest officials launched an investigation into the death of the pachyderm aged about 5-6 years. While no injury mark was found on the animal’s body, the absence of any electric connection at the spot also ruled out the possibility of electrocution.
Later, a team from the Regional Chief Conservator of Forests (RCCF) in Angul also visited the spot and conducted a probe. Both tusks of the animal were found unhurt and veterinarians collected various samples of the animal and sent it for laboratory examination. The dead elephant was buried at the spot after a post-mortem. When contacted, the DFO said the actual reason behind the death was yet to be ascertained and higher authorities were informed about the development. The post-mortem report will be available to them after a week, he added.
In the second incident, the carcass of a tusker was recovered on the Basiapada-Dalkhaipada village road under Jujumura block in the Sambalpur district. It is suspected that the animal aged around 35 might have died due to unknown reasons when it strayed into the village