SAMBALPUR: Two elephants were found dead at Tileimal village near Patara forest in Badarama range under Bamra division here on Thursday. Carcasses of the elephants, one male and the other female, were first spotted by villagers of Tileimal in the morning. Both were found near a paddy field. The male elephant was aged around 10 years while female was 12-15 years old. They were part of a herd of around 20 elephants.
On being informed, forest officials rushed to the spot and started investigation. Divisional forest officer (DFO) of Bamra Phalguni Sarathi Mallik said, “Since the elephants were found near the paddy field, we suspect that they might have died after consuming pesticide-laced crops. We came to know from the landowner that he had sprayed pesticide on the paddy crop on Wednesday evening.”
Preliminary investigation also suggested that the elephants drank water from the same field which was laced with pesticide.There are no injury marks on the carcasses. The actual cause of death can be ascertained after the postmortem report arrives, the DFO added.
Earlier on June 21, an elephant had died due to bullet injuries at Samplahara village under Sambalpur forest division. On July 24, a half-burnt carcass of an elephant was recovered from Dhama forest range under Sambalpur division.