A male elephant was found dead in Theppakkadu coming under the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in Nilgiris district on Saturday, officials said. An autopsy revealed that the 15-year-old elephant was very weak and there was an infection in its tongue and teeth. There was also no food material in the intestine and maggots
were found in the stomach, official sources said.
It was suspected that the jumbo would have collapsed not able to consume food due to the infection and died.