Balangir: A female elephant, aged around 20, was found dead near Jamlisar village in Balangir district on Tuesday. The cause of death is yet to be confirmed.“It was a lone sub-adult female elephant. The animal appeared normal when a patrolling team tracked its movements in the jungle the previous day,” said Shiba Prasad Naik, range officer of Muribahal.Naik added that unless the postmortem examination is completed and the report examined, it is premature to speculate on the reason behind the elephant’s death.Forest officials said the elephant had entered from the Kalahandi side. It had been roaming various forest areas in the adjacent range and entered Tikhari reserve forest of Muribahal from Titilagarh range just a day before its death.Villagers first noticed the carcass and informed forest officials. A departmental team then moved to the site for investigation. “There were no external injury marks on the body. As it was a female without tusks, the possibility of poaching is low,” said a forest officer.A team comprising three veterinary doctors conducted the autopsy in the presence of a revenue department representative and forest department officers. “Samples will be sent for testing to confirm the time and cause of death,” Naik stated.
