Baripada: The carcass of a tusker was found inside Sapanachuan forest under Dhukura forest range of Similipal in Mayurbhanj district on Sunday.
As informed by the Dhukura Range officer, the age of the tusker would be around 14-15 years.
Asked about the incident, the Baripada DFO said though the exact cause of the death of the tusker is not known, it is suspected that it might have died of anthrax as the on-the-spot investigation has revealed that the blood of the dead tusker was oozing out of its nose which is a symptom of the disease.
“We have decided to send the blood sample of the dead tusker to the laboratory to ascertain the exact reason of its death,” he added.
Notably, an elephant had died of anthrax in Karanjia forest range recently.
It may be mentioned that a number of elephants have died in the last one month in Baripada, Karanjia and Rairangpur forest range adjacent to Similipal national park in Mayurbhanj district.
The issue on elephant death was discussed in the in the ongoing winter session of the State Assembly where Forest and Environment minister Bikram Keshari Arukha had said as many as 402 elephants have died in Odisha from 2010-11 till December 2, 2015.
He said at least 35 elephants were killed by poachers in the state since 2010-11.
While four elephants have fallen prey to poachers in 2014-15, at least three jumbos were killed by poachers till December 2 this year. Besides, 15 jumbos died of poisoning during the same time.
The minister had also informed that while 38 elephants were deliberately electrocuted in the last six years, 26 jumbos died due to accidental electrocution and 37 elephants have died due to natural causes like infighting and falling from hill tops during the same period.
While 14 jumbos were killed in train accidents while two others died in road accident, reason for the death of 85 elephants were not yet known.
The minister had also informed that while 61 elephants died natural deaths from 2010-11 till December 2, 2015, as many as 89 jumbos died of different diseases.