Chhattisgarh: Two wild elephants were found dead

Raipur: Two wild elephants were found dead in Chhattisgarh’s Dhamtari and Raigarh districts on Tuesday, as five pachyderms have died over the past eight days in

Raipur: Two wild elephants were found dead in Chhattisgarh’s Dhamtari and Raigarh districts on Tuesday, as five pachyderms have died over the past eight days in the state.

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In Dhamtari district, an elephant calf died late on Monday night after it got stuck in a swamp, while a male elephant got electrocuted after coming in contact with a live wire at a farm in Raigarh district’s Dharamjaigarh area.

The state forest department officials have recovered the bodies of five elephants from four districts --- Surajpur, Balrampur, Dhamtari, and Raigarh -- since last Tuesday.

“The elephant calf was part of a herd that was roaming on the border of Dhamtari and Gariyaband districts. The calf was found dead near Urputi (Mongri) village in the marshland of the Gangrel reservoir in Dhamtari district on Tuesday morning. The animal died late at night on Monday,” said Arun Kumar Pandey, additional principal chief conservator of forest, (wildlife).

“We were tracking the herd, but it’s a tough task to keep track of their movement at night. The herd’s footprints were found near the calf’s carcass, which suggests that the animals unsuccessfully tried to pull the baby elephant out,” he added.

The forest officials are awaiting the autopsy report to ascertain the exact cause of its death.

In another incident, a tusker got electrocuted early Tuesday morning in Girisha village under the Dharamjaigarh forest division.

A herd of 27 elephants was roaming for the last couple of days, and on Tuesday morning a tusker was found dead.

“Primary investigation suggests that a villager had pilfered electricity to operate a borewell on his farm. The tusker came in contact with the naked wire and got electrocuted. Two persons, Bhadoram Rathia and Bal Singh, who owns the farm, have been arrested,” said Santosh Singh, superintendent of police (SP), Raigarh district.

The bodies of two elephants were recovered from the Pratappur forest range, while another jumbo was found dead in the neighbouring Balrampur district last week.

Later, three state forest department officials and a guard were suspended, while a show-cause notice was issued to a divisional forest officer in Balrampur district for alleged dereliction of duty.

North Chhattisgarh is home to around 240 wild elephants that have led to several man-animal conflicts in the past few years in the region.