Mangaluru: A one-year-old elephant calf was found dead in a farm at Harladka in Thodikana village of Sullia, near the Dakshina Kannada-Kodagu border.C Ravishankar, deputy conservator of forests (DCF), Mangaluru forest division, said that a herd of around seven to eight elephants entered farmland adjoining a forest area in Thodikana during the night. The herd raided crops before apparently returning towards the forest. Evidence of crop raiding and elephant footprints was found in the surrounding area, he said.The calf may have slipped on the wet and slippery terrain while the herd was climbing back towards the forest. Another possibility is that it was injured after being hit or trampled by other elephants in the herd while returning. However, the exact circumstances of its death are yet to be established, Ravishankar said.He added that a postmortem was being conducted at the spot to ascertain the cause of death. Forest department personnel, including the ACF Sullia and field team, were present at the location to examine the circumstances surrounding the incident.Ravishankar said elephants have a resident population in small patches of forest in parts of Sullia, Puttur, Subrahmanya, Belthangady and Panja. These elephants remain in forest areas and frequently move into adjoining farmland, where they sometimes raid crops.This is the second elephant death reported in Sullia this year, he said.In the earlier incident, a two-year-old to three-year-old calf died after an encounter with a male elephant. The calf had remained with its mother during the mating period and was reportedly attacked by the male elephant when it did not move away from the mother.The herd involved in the latest incident had left the area, Ravishankar said.
