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Officials are considering extreme heat to be responsible for the death, though they pointed out that a number of water holes were created to provide water to wild animals. Although the post-mortem had been conducted in the afternoon, the report was yet to come out.
According to wildlife warden Komal Singh, after the elephant went unconscious in the Friday morning, his treatment was started, but by the night his condition began deteriorating and he died.
“Primarily, it seems that the jumbo died due to extreme weather conditions. However, the post-mortem report is yet to come,” he said.
Rajaji director Sanatan Sonkar even pointed to a number of artificial water holes filled with fresh water in the park area to quench wild animals’ thrust. Even a few trenches have been dug up for elephants to take mud bath to cool off.
“All the 10 elephants died either their natural deaths or of some other reasons such as railway accident, electrocution and infighting, but not due to poaching,” said Sonkar.