After recovery of two decomposed jumbo carcasses from Athagarh forest division in two days, another injured tusker was on Tuesday found lying near a rivulet in Narasinghapur forest range under Athgarh forest division in Cuttack district. The cause of its illness is said to be bullet injuries.
Informing about the wild animal’s serious condition, Badamba MLA Debiprasad Mishra uploaded an Odia post on his Facebook page.
“The nearby villagers saw the animal suffering from bullet injuries. The forest department is well aware of it. Veterinary doctors are also pressed into service. But, the elephant is in need of experts’ treatment,” said Mishra.
“After coming to know about the plight of the animal, I immediately called recently appointed Forest and Environment Minister Pradeep Amat and informed him about the animal’s condition. I have requested him to take steps for its treatment by experts from Nandankanan Zoo,” said the legislator, adding, he has also contacted Cuttack District Collector to take steps for its rescue.
According to sources, the wild animal, which is writhing in pain, has bullets stuck on its trunk.
However, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF ) Sashi Paul, when contacted over phone, said the bullet injury angle is yet to be ascertained. “We are well aware of the injured elephant. We have already started treatment from yesterday. But we are yet to ascertain whether bullet injury is the cause of its illness,” said Paul over phone.
Notably, a decomposed body of a tusker had been recovered from Badamba forest two days ago. The incident came to the fore when a team of Special Task Force was investigating the death of another elephant. The team found the carcass buried.
On June 3, another carcass of an elephant had also been recovered from Badamba.