Rajapalayam
A male elephant was found dead in Deviyaru forest area under Srivilliputtur-Meghamalai Tiger Reserve near Rajapalayam.
After a foul smell emanated from a particular spot in the forest, locals informed forest department officials, who conducted a search operation on Saturday evening and found the tusker, aged around 25, dead.
“Since the lighting failed on Saturday, we conducted the post-mortem on Sunday. This revealed that the elephant had suffered internal bleeding,” SMTR deputy director H. Dilip Kumar said. He said the animal could have died two days ago.
Stating that both the teeth were intact and the animal had no external injuries, he ruled out the possibility of any hunting attempt. Mr. Dilip Kumar said that the metal detectors used on the body before the post-mortem have also ruled out any bullet injuries.
Officials suspect that the wet conditions may have caused Pachyderm to slip down and injure his lungs.
.