Was the dead elephant actually a tusker?  

Tusks recovered from poachers traced to a dead jumbo that officials had reported was a cow elephant
A pair of tusks that was recovered from the accused in Mysuru | Express
A pair of tusks that was recovered from the accused in Mysuru | Express

HUBBALLI: In a shocking incident, the foresters in Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary have allegedly wrongly reported the death of an elephant and termed it as a cow elephant when it was actually a tusker. This revelation was made after Forest Mobile Squad (FMS) from Mysuru recently busted a tusk trafficking case in Mysuru leading to the arrest of five people.

On September 19, the squad members apprehended seven people of which five were arrested and produced in court. The sleuths had recovered two large-sized tusks. During the probe, the gang revealed that they picked up the tusks from a dead elephant in Sathanur Range of Kabbal Reserve Forest of Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary.

The investigation team, along with the local forest division officials, visited Kabbal last week. The accused showed the place from where the tusks were removed. But strangely, the mahazar report on the elephant, states that the dead elephant was a female. The report also mentions about the cavities from where the tusks were removed by the arrested persons.

“The case is still under investigation. We have collected samples of dead elephant from Sathanur and samples of tusks seized. Soon the samples will be sent for DNA analysis to testify that the tusks that were seized were removed from the elephant found dead in Sathanur. The cause of death is unclear by the report. Moreover the carcass burnt after the autopsy, but the team could collect few bones for DNA sampling,” said an official from FMS.

The tusker death was reported in mid July and there was no inquiry held. Its still unclear whether the foresters deliberately termed the carcass as a female to escape further investigation or there was no expertise among the officials. A local veterinarian had signed the mahazar paper and termed the elephant as female.

Wildlife experts point out that this is not the first time foresters  were terming dead tuskers as female elephants to avoid further investigation. Similar case was reported in Bandipur in 2008.“An RTI application was filed seeking the FIR copy of elephant death case in Sathanur. But there was no reply from the department. We are not sure whether there has been a FIR filed. The department must hold a detailed inquiry to ensure such incidents are not reported. In 2008, the CID Forest Cell of police department had busted a case in Bandipur Tiger Reserve where several tusker deaths were showed as cow elephants on papers,” said a wildlife activist.

Two accused still at large
The FMS Mysuru is still looking for two more accused in the tusker smuggling case. Of the seven arrested, two were let off after learning they had no role in smuggling or picking up the tusks from the dead tusker.    “Two accused are still at large and we suspected their involvement in other ivory smuggling cases. So far five persons have been arrested in connection with the case and we are positive about nabbing two more persons,” said an official from FMS, Mysuru.

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