COIMBATORE: A one-and-half-year-old male elephant calf was found dead at Pachamalai estate in Valparai on Tuesday. The carcass was noticed by Anti Depredation Squad (ADS) during patrol in field number 15 of the Pachamalai estate.
According to postmortem report, the animal’s heart and liver got dysfunctional which resulted in death, sources said and ruled out electrocution. “We suspect the elephant died due to problems arising out of intake like grass and branches of trees as remains of chewed grass was found in the stomach. We have sent samples of kidney and liver for forensic analysis to labs in Coimbatore and TANUVAS, Chennai,” a forest department officer said.
Meanwhile, farmers in Tholampalayam and Melbavi near Mettupalayam complained that wild elephants damaged over 250 coconut trees in the last one week. “The animals uprooted trees that were three years old. The forest department should take permanent steps to prevent the wild elephants intruding into the farming land,” said Kumaran, a farmer.