An elephant calf has been found dead at a forest near Badgad villager under Karada range on Ganjam-Kandhamal border in the wee hours of Thursday.
The calf, aged around five years, was spotted roaming with its mother at the locality for last three days. Forest department officials found the calf dead while they were carrying out patrolling. The reason behind its death is yet to be ascertained, said sources.
Acting on a tip-off, Phulbani District Forest Officer (DFO) Prasant Patel rushed to the spot along with a team.
Meanwhile, a team of doctors also reached the spot to do the post-mortem.
Karada Ranger Biranchi Narayan Panda said, “The baby elephant was spotted roaming with its mother for past two days. We were keeping tabs on them. However, the elephant calf was found dead in the wee hours. The exact cause of its death can be revealed after post-mortem. The elephant calf will be buried following the post-mortem.”
In November 2022, a female elephant and a newborn calf were found dead in a forest in Keonjhar.
Reported by Rajesh Kumar Panda, OTV
In August 2022, another calf had been found dead in forest areas of Dhenkanal district.
Elephant death has become a matter of concern in Odisha. According to data obtained through Right to Information Act, Odisha had witnessed more than 400 elephant deaths over last five years. As many as 82 elephants died in Odisha in 2019-20, 77 in 2020-21 and 86 in 2021-22.