ROURKELA: A sub-adult female elephant was electrocuted to death after coming in contact with a live wire on the outskirts of Nuagaon village under Panposh range of Rourkela Forest Division (RFD) in Sundargarh district on Tuesday morning.
Forest officials informed, the jumbo, aged around 12 years had entered into a paddy field at around 4.30 am when the incident occurred. Preliminary investigation revealed a villager had extended electric supply to a brick kiln using illegal hooking from overhead wires.
The service wire was full of joints and supported by a GI wire which had got charged from a joint. The elephant likely came in contact with the charged GI wire and got electrocuted, forest officials said. The person who had laid the wires is, meanwhile, at large.
The jumbo had got separated from its herd comprising 13 elephants which entered a forest near Nuagaon village on Monday night. The carcass was buried after autopsy by a team of veterinary doctors in the presence of senior officials of the Rourkela Forest Division.
On August 18, a five-year-old elephant calf met with a tragic end after reportedly being hit by a train near Roxy of Barsuan range of Bonai Forest Division (BFD). Similarly on August 15, a female elephant died under mysterious circumstances in Tamra range of Bonai.
In April, a tusker aged around 10 years had a painful death after it bit a bait-bomb leading to fatal mouth injury in K Balang section of Banki range within RFD limits. In October last year, a farmer allegedly electrocuted a tusker to death at Oraghat under Koida range of BFD.
Forester hit by tranquiliser dart
Dhenkanal: A forester was injured after accidentally being hit by a tranquiliser dart that was targeted at a wild bear at Kejuli village under Kankadahad section of Kamakhyanagar East range of the district on Tuesday. The injured forester Deepak Sahu was among the team trying to tranquilise a bear that had wreaked havoc injuring several people of the village in the last few days. However, instead of the bear, the tranquiliser dart accidentally hit Sahu following which he collapsed. He was immediately rushed to the Dhenkanal district headquarters hospital and later shifted to SCB MCH in Cuttack. However, till last reports came in, he was yet to regain consciousness. RCCF Angul range, Sudhansu Khora said the forester was shifted to Cuttack for better treatment.