CUTTACK: An elephant carcass was recovered from Gopapur section in Badamba range of Athagarh forest division in a highly decomposed state on Friday.
Locals discovered the carcass near Hadua bridge in Kharoda forest and informed forest officials, following which they rushed to the spot and recovered it. Though the officials are yet to confirm the age and gender of the deceased elephant, and ascertain the reason behind its death, locals suspected it to be a tusker and poached for its tusks.
Athagarh divisional forest officer (in-charge) Chichilichi Biswal said, “The carcass of the elephant was decomposed to such an extent that it is difficult to identify its gender and ascertain its age. The postmortem of the carcass will be conducted on Saturday which will reveal the cause of death and the DNA analysis will help in ascertaining its age and gender.”
Earlier, carcasses of four elephants, which were buried underground in Kharoda forest, were unearthed in 2022.