COIMBATORE: A 25-year-old wild elephant was found dead in the Vellapathy forest section coming under the Boluvampatti forest range on Friday. However, postmortem confirmed that the animal could have died due to natural causes.
The field-level staff of the Boluvampatti forest range noticed the carcass of the animal during patrol and confirmed that the tusks were intact.
There were less chances for poaching since the tusks were intact, and poisoning has also been ruled out since maggots had been formed throughout the carcass. Moreover, there were no injuries indicating that the animal bit a country-made bomb (avuttukai) or was electrocuted.
"During the postmortem, except for half-digested grass, we have not traced any foreign materials to prove it was poisoned to death. Since the animal could have died two weeks ago, we can't pinpoint the exact cause of the death. We have taken samples of organs like kidney and heart to ascertain the exact cause of the death," said an official.
Forest department officials are also unsure whether the deceased animal was the same one that had entered the premises of the Andavar temple in Velliangiri and found in Thanikandi, creating panic among the villagers a week ago.
Coimbatore Forest Veterinary officer S Vennila and Veterinary Assistant Surgeon Rajarajan of Narasipuram carried out the postmortem in the presence of senior officials of the forest department and the members of an NGO.