DHARMAPURI: Investigation into the death of an elephant which was found dead at Neruppur near Karnataka border on March 1 has revealed that the elephant was poached. The poachers have also set the carcass on fire, making it difficult for the forest staff to determine the gender, age of the elephant.
The tusk or tushes of the elephant were missing, prompting forest officials to speculate that it could have been killed for it. Three Special Investigation Teams (SIT) have been constituted to investigate the death. Two forest staff were suspended for failing to prevent the poaching.
On March 1, the forest staff received an alert of an elephant carcass found near Neruppur near the borders of Karnataka and the Anti Poaching Squad was alerted and they began an investigation. Following this incident, DFO K Rajangam and a team of veterinary experts trekked into the forest and conducted a post mortem. A week after the incident forest staff are still yet to ascertain the cause of the elephant death. Speaking to TNIE, District Forest Officer Rajangam said, "It is a poaching and we are investigating the details. The carcass of the elephant was found only four km from Karnataka border and our veterinary team was unable to detect bullet traces using metal detector from the remains of the elephant. Further the poacher had attempted to burn the body of the elephant. Though unsuccessful, it has led to severe degradation, to an extent that we are unable to identify if it is a male or female."
Commenting on whether the elephant was poached for its tusk, DFO said, "As of right now, we are only roughly able to discern the age of the elephant which is about 20-25 year approximately and we do not know if it was tusk or tushes that was stolen. But we are leaning our investigation into this direction, why else would an elephant be poached. "
"To apprehend the people responsible, Three SIT teams have been formed and police are also aiding the investigation. The teams will be responsible for intelligence both in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. While other teams will be patrolling the borders for any leads. We are also investigating if there were people in the vicinity at that time and reviewing CCTV footage," he added.
In the late hours of Thursday DFO Rajangam had also suspended two forest staff, forest guard Dhamodaran and forester Sakthivel for failing to prevent the death of the elephant.