Decomposed carcass of elephant found on patta land in Nilgiris

UDHAGAMANDALAM: A highly decomposed carcass of a male elephant was found on a piece of patta land in the Singara forest range in the Nilgiris district on Wednesday. Both the tusks of the elephant were missing, forest department officials said.

Arun Kumar, deputy director of Masinagudi forest division in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, said the forest field staff members found the carcass on a piece of land belonging to Gem Park Resort Private Limited. Forest veterinarian Dr Rajesh Kumar conducted a postmortem at the location where the carcass was found.

"The elephant might have died three months ago. Preliminary report of the postmortem operation suggests that the male elephant was around 45 years old," said Arun Kumar.

He added, "No external injuries or bullet wounds were found on the carcass. Also, we used a metal detector to ascertain whether any bullets were inside the carcass. The report suggested that the elephant might have died naturally given the age factor."

According to the official, both the cavities of the tusks were found undisturbed. Hence, someone might have taken the tusks away when they got loosened due to decay process. "At this stage, we rule out poaching, given the findings in the preliminary report of the postmortem."

The forest department has registered a case under the Wildlife Protection Act. "We are trying to identify the person or persons who took the tusks away," said Arun Kumar.