ANGUL: Carcasses of two tuskers were recovered from the forests of Athmallick and Dhenkanal divisions on Sunday.
Forest officials ruled out poaching in both the cases but did not confirm the cause of deaths. There were no external injuries and tusks of the two elephants were intact.
Sources said villagers of Manarbeda spotted the carcass of a 60-year-old elephant in nearby Khesra forest under Madhpur range of Athmallick division in the morning. On being informed, forest officials along with veterinary doctors reached the spot and conducted postmortem.
Ranger Swadhin Samal said the tusker was being tracked for the last two days because of its slow movement. It might have died due to old age. Visceral samples have been sent to OUAT to determine the exact cause of the elephant’s death, he added.
Similarly, a 20-year-old elephant was found dead in Brahamanipal beat of Hindol range under Dhenkanal division. A team of veterinarians performed autopsy on the carcass. Divisional forest officer (DFO) Lalit Kumar Patra said there were no external injuries on the carcass and the tusks were intact. Visceral samples have been sent for testing to ascertain the exact cause of the death.
