COIMBATORE: The postmortem of a 47-year-old female wild elephant which had died a few days ago revealed pregnancy-related complications brought about its end.
The elephant carcass was found on Monday afternoon at Uppuman Kuli in Kookalthorai Halla under the Masinagudi Forest Division in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) on the eastern slopes of the Nilgiris.
The postmortem was carried out only on Tuesday as per EDAF norms in the presence of volunteers and village heads.
Forest department sources said the foetus was 18 months old, four months short of the gestation period of 22 months.
"We suspect the foetus could have been injured when the mother elephant was hurt in the stomach, probably while moving with the herd, resulting in weakening of the uterus. Following its death, toxins in the womb may have resulted in septicaemia to the foetus and it affected the mother too," the sources added.
The carcass was left for scavengers after the postmortem,
"We have installed camera traps to monitor which animal consumes the carcass. We noticed that a part of the trunk had already been eaten by a scavenger," an official said.
Officials added that samples of multiple organs would be sent for analysis to ascertain the exact cause of death.