A post mortem was carried out on the animal aged around 32 years by a team of veterinarians in the presence of forest department officials and representatives of NGO’s on Tuesday. The front line staff on a routine patrol heard loud trumpeting of two elephants and therefore had gone there to find two tuskers engaged in a fight at Andiparai forest area on Monday night. However, they left the spot leaving the elephants undisturbed. In the fight that ensued between the elephants, either to establish their territory or to woo a mate, one of them succumbed to injuries.

It bled to death with deep injuries on its jaw and on its back. The other jumbo involved in the fight stayed put near the dead one and the forest department had a tough time chasing it away on Tuesday morning before commencing the postmortem. A patch of the forest area was splashed with blood, shed by the injured tusker.

“The tusker didn’t allow us to go near the dead one until it was driven away. Three elephants have died so far this year in the Pollachi forest division,” said S Arokiyaraj Xavier, Deputy Director of ATR.