COIMBATORE: A 45-year-old female wild elephant was electrocuted at a farm in Saralapathi village near Sethumadai in Pollachi on Friday morning as it came in contact with the solar fence.
The farm is located just 100 metres from Thunakkadavu reserve forest.
The dead elephant was one of the three in a herd that arrived at the farmland in search of food and water.
Forest department officials suspect that the animal could have come in contact with the solar-powered fence early morning on Friday.
The staff of the Pollachi forest range visited the spot and began an inquiry after the caretakers of the farm alerted them.
Pollachi Forest range officer G Ranjit engaged veterinarians to carry out a postmortem.
In a touching turn of events, another elephant in the herd approached near the postmortem site. The staff subsequently drove it back into the forest.
The postmortem was held in the presence of the village head as per the Elephant Death Audit Framework (EDAF).
Meanwhile, officials from the Tamil Nadu Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (TNWCCB) and the TNEB conducted a spot inquiry.
After ground inspection by the TNEB, the forest officials clarified that the fence was not given power illegally and noted the death was a very rare incident.
A senior official of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve said, “The farm owner has battery-operated power fencing with 12-volt energy being supplied constantly to it. The elephant’s trunk got entangled in the fence, resulting in a fatal electric shock. There are also wounds on its external genitalia.We will know the exact cause of death after lab tests. We have sent samples for histopathology and toxicology tests.”
The officials also claimed that they have not observed the charring marks (suggesting electric burns) on the trunk and other external body parts of the animal. A case has been registered. The officials will question the farm owner.
“Currently, we are investigating with the caretakers who have been employed on the farm for over three decades,” the officials said.