Rourkela: Carcass of a female elephant was found in Jharaberni Khesra forest near Jharaberni village in Deogarh district on Friday night, forest officials said on Saturday. Kundheigola forester informed the Deogarh forest division about the carcass at 10.35pm. ACF (administration), Riamal range officer, forest staff, rapid response team and members of the forest squad reached the spot and guarded the carcass. Officials and veterinary personnel examined the site on Saturday. The elephant, aged around 9 to 10 years old, was suspected to have died around 10 days ago. After post-mortem, the carcass was buried.Muscle tissue and other samples were collected and will be sent to Centre for Wildlife Health at Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, for further examination. A preliminary investigation suggests that the elephant may have died of natural causes. However, the exact cause of death will be known after the test reports are received.“The cause of death of female elephant is likely to be natural. We will send today the collected samples to CWH for further testing. The exact cause of death will be known after obtaining report from CWH, Bhubaneswar,” said Swadhinata Sahani, ACF (administration), Deogarh forest division.
