Elephant found dead in Cuttack; cause of death not clear

A day after an elephant calf was found dead in a forest near Badgad villager under Karada range on Ganjam-Kandhamal border, carcass of another elephant was found at a sugarcane field in Sankhapoi forest under Athagarh Forest Range on Saturday.

Though the reason behind the death of the pachyderm, aged about 20, is yet to be ascertained, the giant animal had sustained severe injuries on its trunk, sources said. 

With frequent elephant deaths, Odisha has earned itself the tag of ‘elephant graveyard’

Earlier, the calf, aged around five years, was spotted roaming with its mother near Badgad village for past few days. Forest department officials found the calf dead while they were carrying out patrolling. 

Acting on a tip-off, Phulbani District Forest Officer (DFO) Prasant Patel rushed to the spot along with a team. The team carried out post-mortem.

Elephant death has become a matter of concern in Odisha. 

Going by the data obtained through the Right to Information Act, Odisha has registered more than 400 elephant deaths over the last five years. As many as 82 elephants died in Odisha in 2019-20, 77 in 2020-21 and 86 in 2021-22.

Reported by Nilakantha Dora, OTV