Rourkela: An elephant calf was found dead, floating in Rengali reservoir near Kulsara village under the Thianal section of Barkote forest range in Deogarh district on Wednesday.Forest officials said the calf was estimated to be less than a year old. The carcass was spotted about 1.5 km inside the reservoir.A herd of around 10 elephants, including four calves, had reportedly come near the waterbody, and it is suspected that one of the calves slipped into the upstream portion of the reservoir and drowned.After receiving information from the Barkote Range Officer around 8.30 am, Deogarh DFO Rashmi G, ACF (Administration), ACF (Enforcement), the Range Officer and field staff reached the spot.The carcass was retrieved, postmortem was conducted, and the remains were later buried.“Preliminary findings suggest the calf died due to drowning. The exact cause will be known after the postmortem report,” said Rashmi G, DFO, Deogarh forest division.
