BARIPADA: Carcass of a female elephant was found inside Champagarh forest limits inside the Similipal Sanctuary here on Thursday. The spot is located in the buffer zone of the sanctuary. It is suspected to have been killed by a tusker for refusing to respond to its mating call.
DFO Prasanna Kumar Behera said the 40-year-old female elephant had wide injury marks on its abdomen. It is suspected that it might have refused to accept a tusker’s mating call following which, it was attacked, he added.
Wildlife officials said the two elephants must be from two different herds as it is very unlikely for a tusker to attack a female elephant of its own herd.
Meanwhile, a veterinary team along with forest staff reached the spot and conducted postmortem.