An elephant receiving treatment in Ranpur Forest Range under Nayagarh district succumbed to its injuries on Wednesday morning.
As per reports, the tusker had a wound on its leg suspected to be caused by a bullet and it was being treated by a veterinary team from Nandankanan Zoological Park.
The tusker had developed an infection following the injuries. The exact reason behind the injuries is still unclear. There are speculations that the injury was caused by bullet fired by poachers.
It is pertinent to mention here that some local residents had spotted the injured animal near Kanchanpur village under this range on Saturday. It was earlier alleged that no step was initially taken by the forest department even though the information regarding the injured elephant was provided to them.
As the elephant was too weak to feed on its own, local residents had also expressed concern over its survival.
No forest department officials were available to comment in this matter.
Meanwhile, another elephant lost its life after it was hit by a truck while crossing National Highway-49 in Keonjhar district on Tuesday night.
As per reports, an iron-laden truck was on its way from Keonjhar towards Pallahara. At that time, the tusker was crossing the NH-49 near Kantabahal when the truck hit the pachyderm. The animal was grievously injured but managed to move into a nearby farmland. Minutes later, the tusker died.
The truck driver Sunil Kumar Sahu told the media that the he was coming from Suakati while forest officials were on the other side of the road and were perhaps shooing the elephant away which suddenly appeared from the right side and collided with the truck.