Ahead of Wildlife Week, carcass of tusker with bullet wounds found in Odisha

Forest officials suspect that the elephant was killed y poachers for its tusks.

A day before Odisha celebrates the Wildlife Week, forest officials found the carcass of a tusker in Angul district on Thursday raising suspicions that the elephant was shot dead by poachers who escaped with its tusks.

The tusker was the second elephant to be killed in Odisha this week. (Representative image/HT PHOTO)

Wildlife officials said the carcass of the elephant with its tusks missing was found in Taptajharan Malyagiri forest in Angul distric.

“It is suspected that the elephant has been killed for tusks by poachers. Post-mortem would make things more clear,” said a forest official of Angul.

This is second such elephant death this week in the state. Earlier on Monday, a female elephant died near Banjhiama village in Dalijoda reserve Forest in Cuttack district.

The elephant was allegedly shot on its right leg by poachers and was in critical condition when the locals spotted it. It succumbed to its injuries while undergoing treatment.

On Sunday, forest officials had found a carcass of an elephant on the outskirts of Ratakhandi village under Sadar block in Bolangir district.

Wildlife activists have been alleging that Odisha has turned out to be a happy hunting ground for elephant poachers. Last month, officials in Koenjhar district seized around 19 kg of elephant tusks from a car and arrested three persons.