Mystery shrouded the death of a 17-year-old male wild elephant in the forests of Talakona in Yerravaripalem mandal of Chittoor district on Thursday. The incident came to light on Friday, by which time post-mortem of the animal and its funeral were over.
According to information, the wild elephant, which was part of a 28-member herd, had turned lonely in recent months. Its movement was confined to a small radius close to Siddalagandi pond inside the forest. The forest personnel said that it was seen in its hectic activity, though alone, during the recent crop raids a couple of months ago by a big herd in the Talakona region.
During that time, though the elephant tried to join the herd, the latter shunned it. The herd later moved into the upper reaches of Seshachalam Hills, leaving the lone tusker to fend for itself. Some farmers who sighted the animal at a rivulet last month said that unlike its terrific posture, it kept a low profile and made minimal movements. For the last time, the animal was seen alive by the forest personnel on Wednesday.
In this backdrop, the tusker was found dead close to its favourite rivulet in the forests in the early hours of Thursday. A team of veterinary experts rushed to the forest, and after finishing their job, the tusker was buried at the same spot by evening.
Forest Range Officer (Chamala Valley) Raghunath said the actual cause of the animal’s death was not ascertained yet. “It might have died due to some illness. As it is Schedule-I animal, we took all measures for its post-mortem, collection of viscera samples for further laboratory tests. Had the animal died of electrocution, we would have informed the media. As it is a matter of seriousness, we avoided making it public,” he said.
When contacted, DFO (Wildlife), Phanibushan Naidu, said “the animal died of natural causes. During post-mortem, we found infection of intestines. as it is a big animal, we maintained confidentiality over its death.”
Meanwhile, there is a version that though the tusker remained within the view of the forest personnel during the last couple of months, showing signs of serious ailment, no efforts were made to provide medical care to it.