ROURKELA: An adult male elephant was found dead at Jamirdhi village under Banki range of Rourkela forest division in Sundargarh district on Tuesday.
Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Sanjeet Kumar said due to availability of water and food, a herd of 11 to 15 elephants was staying in the area for the last 12 days. The village has several mango orchards and Mahua trees, which attracted the wild animals. In the last two days, the herd damaged 12 mud houses in search of food.
On Monday night, the elephants raided the village again. Early in the morning, villagers saw the carcass of the elephant lying near one of the damaged houses.
While autopsy report is awaited to ascertain the cause of death, it appeared that the elephant, aged about 15, died of acute digestive disorder, the DFO said. In the evening, 11 elephants, including calves, came back to the spot where the male elephant had died. The DFO said compensation would be paid to the affected villagers and mapping of the area would be done soon for solar fencing.
Regional Chief Conservator (RCCF) Lingaraj Otta visited the spot to take stock of the situation.