Wild elephant dies in TN after suffering injuries in mouth

COIMBATORE: A wild elephant died in Thadagam North beat of Coimbatore forest range on Tuesday after suffering injuries in its mouth, probably after biting a avuttukkai (country-made crude bomb).

Around 7.30am, field staff of the forest department found a female elephant -- aged around 5 to 6 years -- lying on the ground near MVN brickkiln. They informed their higher officials.

A veterinary officer visited the spot and checked the elephant. He declared that the elephant had suffered injuries in its mouth and the injury might have happened due to an avuttukkai.

Conservator of forests S Ramasubramanian, forest veterinary officer A Sukumar, Coimbatore range forest officer R Arun Kumar and other officials rushed to the spot. The elephant was very weak as it had not eaten food for the last few days due to the mouth injuries.

Forest department personnel tried to revive the elephant. They administered antibiotics and glucose to it. However, their efforts went in vain as the elephant died in the afternoon.

The exact cause of the death would be known only after a postmortem, officials said.


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