Elephant dies after getting trapped in Nilgiri swamp

COIMBATORE: A 25-year-old male elephant was found dead after getting stuck in a swamp in Manvayal in Gudalur Forest Division in Nilgiris district on Friday. Forest department officials said that the elephant was trapped in the loose sand, which had become extremely dangerous due to the rain in the region over the last few weeks.

The elephant is believed to have entered the farm in Manvayal as it was moving between the scattered patches of a reserve forest in the Gudalur division, and had gotten stuck. After it got stuck in the swamp, it was unable to extricate itself from the swamp and died due to suffocation on Friday.

District Forest Officer, Gudalur division, Sumesh Soman, rushed to the spot and conducted preliminary investigations into the death, and a post-mortem is to be conducted on Saturday.

In another incident, a seven-year-old male sloth bear was found dead at Kargudi forest in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in Nilgiris district on Friday. Forest department officials said that it died naturally and the postmortem would be conducted on Saturday.