COIMBATORE: A wild tusker was killed in a fight with another elephant at Sundapatti near Pillur dam in the Mettupalayam forest range in COimbatore district on Monday night.According to a forest officer, the tusker’s carcass was first spotted by the residents of a tribal hamlet close to Modasakkai stream near Pillur dam on Tuesday morning. “When alerted, officials attached to the Mettupalayam forest range rushed to the spot and a postmortem was performed by veterinary assistant surgeons Dr Sadhasivam from Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve and Dr Meyyappan from Anamalai Tiger Reserve.”The officer said more than 25 injury marks were found on the carcass. “There were deep wounds in the inguinal region, on neck and forehead, causing heavy bleeding. Given the nature of wounds, we suspect that the tusker was attacked by a younger, more energetic tusker.”He said the elephant that was killed in infight weighed more than four tonnes, and its tusks were not sharp and straight, making it difficult to fight. “Its left tusk was broken during the fight. The elephant walked nearly 150 metres after sustaining severe wounds, before it collapsed and died. Blood marks were found along the stretch.”Tribals in the area said a lone tusker had been wandering in the area for the past 10 days. “On Monday night, we heard an elephant trumpet from the stream area,” one of them said.After the postmortem, the carcass was buried in the reserve forest area near Pillur dam.
