Forest department personnel inspect the carcass of a one-year-old elephant calf found dead at Harladka in Thodikana village, Sullia
This is the second elephant death reported in Sullia this year, he said.
However, the exact circumstances of its death are yet to be established, Ravishankar said. The herd involved in the latest incident had left the area, Ravishankar said. The calf may have slipped on the wet and slippery terrain while the herd was climbing back towards the forest. Another possibility is that it was injured after being hit or trampled by other elephants in the herd while returning. He added that a postmortem was being conducted at the spot to ascertain the cause of death. Forest department personnel, including the ACF Sullia and field team, were present at the location to examine the circumstances surrounding the incident. The calf had remained with its mother during the mating period and was reportedly attacked by the male elephant when it did not move away from the mother.
In the earlier incident, a two-year-old to three-year-old calf died after an encounter with a male elephant.