Two elephant carcasses found in Odisha’s Keonjhar district

The officials said the carcasses of a 25-year-old female elephant and a calf were spotted by residents in Raba village under Bhuyan Juang Pidh forest Range on Monday morning

Two elephant carcasses have been recovered from Odisha’s Keonjhar district, wildlife department officials said on Tuesday. The exact cause of their deaths was unknown yet, they added.

The officials said the carcasses of a 25-year-old female elephant and a calf were spotted by residents in Raba village under Bhuyan Juang Pidh forest Range on Monday morning.

A herd of elephants had come to the village on Sunday night in search of food.

“Electrocution is ruled out as no 11 KV power line passes in that area. There is however a low-tension power line, but it is cabled. The deaths likely happened early morning. To find out the cause of death, we have sent samples of the carcasses to Centre for Wildlife Health at Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology in Bhubaneswar,” said divisional forest officer (Keonjhar) Swayam Mallick.