Assam: 3 Elephants Die Within 24 Hours In Jorhat, Goalpara, Udalguri

GUWAHATI: As many as three elephants have died within the last 24 hours in Assam. This includes a three-month old calf.

The first incident is reported from Goalpara district of the state where the carcass of a jumbo was recovered in a paddy field in Joyramkuchi, an area under the Lakhipur Forest Range.

Sources in the Goalpara Forest Department have revealed that the exact cause of death of the elephant is not known as the post mortem report is yet to come.

Divisional Forest Officer of Goalpara, Jitendra Kumar said, "We will have to wait for the post mortem report. Since we spotted some external injuries on the body of the jumbo, we suspect that the pachyderm may have died in infighting with other elephants."

The DFO added, "There was blood in his mouth and his ears were damaged. A video of the same was recovered by our team."

Kumar also stated that as many as five jumbo deaths were reported in the district in this current year alone due to various reasons which is more than last year's count.

It was further informed that the elephant population in Goalpara district has gone up in the last several months with herds also entering from neighbouring Meghalaya.

The second incident of elephant death was reported from Jorhat district where a calf was found dead at Titabor's Kasojan Tea Estate on Friday. Locals in the area first spotted the carcass and they informed the forest officials later.

A senior forest department official has informed that although the post mortem report is yet to come, the elephant calf might have died due to some infection.

The official said, "As per preliminary investigation, it is learned that the calf had some external injuries on his trunk. The calf was three months old and was unable to swallow food in the last couple of days due to an infection. The post mortem report is pending."

Meanwhile another carcass of a female elephant was recovered at Bhutiachang village of Udalguri district on Friday. Although the exact cause of death is not confirmed by forest officials as the post-mortem report is due, there are suspicions that it might be a natural death.

DFO of Udalguri District Raju Kumar Brahma said, "The female elephant is suspected to be more than 50 years old. As per preliminary investigation, the elephant seems to have died of a tumor. A large tumor can be palpated in the lower abdomen of the pachyderm. The post mortem report is awaited."

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