COIMBATORE: In two separate incidents, a female elephant and a female elephant calf were found dead in forests near Coimbatore on Wednesday.Forest department officials said an elephant calf that was part of a herd that entered Tamil Nadu from Kerala was found dead in the Madukkarai forest range. They suspect that a carnivore killed the calf.The forest department said three female elephants and the calf were first spotted in the Puthuppathi area under the Navakkarai section of the Madukkarai range in the Coimbatore forest division on Sept 18. Forest department personnel observed the calf struggling to walk, especially with one hind leg, and began closely monitoring it on the district forest officer’s directions.From Sept 18 to 22, forest personnel tracked the herd during the day, while drones were used for nighttime surveillance. Officials said they were unable to approach the calf to assess its condition because the herd prevented the team from getting close. During drone surveillance on Tuesday night, the calf was seen remaining in the same spot, and no other elephants were visible nearby.On Wednesday morning, a team led by the Madukkarai forest range officer Arun found the calf unresponsive, approached it and confirmed it dead.A postmortem was conducted in the presence of the assistant conservator of forests, range officers, veterinary doctors and representatives from NGOs. The postmortem found deep puncture wounds on multiple parts of the body, and officials said the injuries and preliminary findings indicated a suspected attack by a carnivore.In another incident, a female elephant aged 8-10 years was found dead in the Coimbatore forest range on Wednesday, with a postmortem examination indicating intestinal blockage as the cause of death.Forest officials found the elephant lying dead around in the Thadagam North, about 2 km from Melmudi area under the Thudiyalur section. Organ and blood samples were collected for further examination.
