BHUBANESWAR/ATHAGARH : In the eye of a storm over allegations of jumbo death cover-ups, Athagarh forest division is in the news for wrong reasons again as another elephant with suspected gunshot wounds has been spotted roaming in the forests of Narasinghpur within its jurisdiction.
On being informed by locals that an elephant was shot at by poachers in Nuagarh forest of Narasinghpur, officials of the forest division with help of a team from Satkosia tried to tranquillise it on Tuesday to provide necessary treatment. However, a senior official said efforts to dart the pachyderm didn’t succeed.
“The adult tusker, aged around 25 years, is in a musth state and behaving aggressively. It is constantly moving in the forests due to which the team of experts is finding it difficult to tranquillise it. Another attempt will be made to dart it on Wednesday,” the official said.
Angul RCCF M Yogajayananda said the elephant has wounds on one of its ears. However, it is yet to be confirmed whether the injury is due to gunshot or infighting. “It can be ascertained only after the elephant is tranquillised,” he said.
The RCCF further informed that the tranquillising team will remain in the division till the elephant is captured. Notably, this is the second incident of an wounded elephant being spotted in the forests of Athagarh in the last two months. Earlier, a jumbo with multiple pellet injuries in Narasinghpur forests battled for life for almost three weeks before succumbing on June 14.
The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has already sought an action taken report from the State Forest department in this regard. The SIT is also investigating the cover-up of elephant deaths in the division this year. The SIT, which was asked to submit its report within a month, has sought another one month time.