COIMBATORE: A cow elephant aged 35-40-years-old was found dead in a coffee estate in Varattuparai, near Valparai, on Friday. A postmortem on Saturday revealed that the animal had died due to dung impaction (constipation), which makes bowel movement difficult or impossible.
The postmortem was carried out by Deputy Director (Forest Veterinary Service) N S Manokaran in the presence of Anamalai Tiger Reserve DFO V Subbaiah, Range Officer P Sakthivel and members of Nature Conservation Foundation, an NGO.
Sources said the elephant must have died 7-10 days ago as it was unable to discharge dung. It had stopped eating three days before its death. The elephant seems to have been in severe pain before the death as the place where the carcass was found was a mess, made so by the restive animal’s frantic movements.
This is the fifth elephant death reported in Coimbatore district within a month.
On January 17, a two-year-old calf, its mother and a seven-year-old elephant were electrocuted when they touched an illegal electric fence at Dasampalayam.
On January 18, a seven-year-female old died of injuries caused by biting an ovuttkai (countrymade bomb) at Seeliyur in the Periyanacikenpalayam range. On the same day, a two-year-old calf elephant, which was found near Dasampalayam village, Mettupalayam, also died.