DHENKANAL: Two elephants, including a one-year-old calf, were found dead barely 100 metres apart in the Godarabilli forest area under Kamakhyanagar West forest range in Dhenkanal district on Saturday, raising fresh concerns over protection of the gentle giants in the conflict-prone region.
The carcasses, one of a 12-year-old female elephant and the other of a calf aged around one year, were spotted by locals in the morning, who subsequently alerted the forest department.
A team of forest officials rushed to the spot and launched an investigation to find out if the deaths were resulted from infighting within the herd or any other possible cause.
The exact cause is yet to be established, said Dhenkanal Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Lalit Kumar Patra.
Patra, who rushed to the spot following the incident, said it would be too early to draw any conclusion.
A veterinary team has been called in to examine the carcasses and provide a preliminary assessment. The exact cause of death will be known after the post-mortem report is received, the DFO said.
He ruled out the possibility of poaching or electrocution, stating that no electric wire has been found in the vicinity of the carcasses.
The incident comes amid the presence of a herd of around 40 elephants in the forest range over the past week. The herd has reportedly been damaging crops and property, creating panic among local residents.
Frontline staff are tracking the herd and taking precautionary measures to prevent any untoward incident, forest officials said.
