DEOGARH/ROURKELA: An elephant calf was found dead near Rengali reservoir near Kulsara village under Barkote range in Deogarh district on Wednesday morning.
The calf was aged around one year. Forest officials said the range officer of Barkote received information about the incident at around 8.30 am. Soon after, Deogarh divisional forest officer (DFO) Rashmi G along with a team rushed to the spot for investigation. The carcass was examined and necessary procedures were initiated as per protocol.
The DFO said while the death appears to be due to natural causes, likely drowning, confirmation will come only after the postmortem report. The forest team is also closely monitoring elephant movement in the area to prevent further incidents.
In a separate incident on the day, a sub-adult tusker that fell into a well in Hathibari area of Nuagaon block under Sundargarh’s Birmitrapur range was successfully rescued and reunited with its herd.
Rourkela DFO Jaswant Sethi said upon receiving information from villagers, an elephant squad was immediately dispatched. The tusker had reportedly strayed from a herd of 21 elephants and was struggling to climb out of the open well on a farmland.
Two excavator machines were deployed to cut and widen the well’s edge, reducing its height and enabling the animal to climb out safely. The tusker later rejoined its herd without any injury.