Tusker With Wounded Trunk Found Dead In Cuttack

Cuttack: The carcass of another elephant was discovered on Saturday at a sugarcane field in Sankhapoi forest under the Athagarh Forest Range, one day after an elephant calf was discovered dead in a forest near Badgad village under the Karada range on the Ganjam-Kandhamal border.

Although the cause of the 20-year-old pachyderm’s death is unknown, sources claim that the enormous animal had suffered serious damage to its trunk.

Notably, Odisha has been given the tag of “elephant graveyard” due to the high number of elephant deaths here.

Recently, a calf, who looked to be around five years old, had been seen for a few days roaming with its mother close to Badgad village. During a patrol, members of the forest department discovered the dead calf.

Following a tip-off, Phulbani District Forest Officer (DFO) Prasant Patel and a team sped over to the scene and recovered the carcass. Subsequently, a post-mortem was performed by the team.

The recent rise in elephant deaths in Odisha has raised concerns.

According to information received under the Right to Information Act, approximately 400 elephant deaths have been reported in Odisha during the past five years. As many as 82 elephants died in Odisha in 2019-20, 77 in 2020-21 and 86 in 2021-22.