Elephant died on the banks of the river: Forest Officer (Representational)
Kannur (Kerala):
A 35-year-old wild elephant, critically injured in a suspected fight with other tuskers, died on Tuesday night before being treated by forest department veterinarians in Kerala, officials said.
A male elephant with a back wound and looking weak was seen in a river flowing through the Aralam forest division on Tuesday morning.
“It is suspected that the elephant suffered a back injury during a fight with other tuskers. The initial suggestion by forest veterinarians is that the injury was due to some fight,” the forest official told PTI.
The exact cause of death of the animal will be known only after the postmortem.
Officials said the elephant had entered the river on Tuesday morning as part of a natural healing process and left for the forest after standing in the water for several hours.
Later, in the evening it returned to the same place, but died on the bank of the river, he said.
Generally, wild elephants injured in fights with other tuskers recover through natural processes, officials said.
An official said, “It is really shocking.
He said the death occurred when forest veterinarians were in the process of quarantining the elephant to treat it.
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