Baby elephant found dead

Coimbatore: A male baby elephant was found dead in the Coimbatore forest range on Thursday.
Frontline staff of the forest department had found the carcass at Attukal reserve forest in Kembanur beat around 5pm.
Forest veterinary assistant surgeon from the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve Sathasivam and assistant veterinary surgeon from the Government Veterinary Hospital at Narasipuram T Karthikeyan conducted autopsy in the presence of district forest officer T K Ashok Kumar and representatives of non-governmental organisations on Friday.
Veterinary officials said the calf was five to 10 days old. It might have died of neonatal infection. The carcass was buried in a pit after vital samples were collected for forensic examination.
The mother elephant and a herd of elephants kept watching over the carcass for some time, range officer R Arun Kumar said. “The herd was found 200 metres away from the carcass. The elephants left the place only after we buried the carcass,” he said.
A male elephant calf was found dead in Odanthurai reserve forest on July 16. No external injuries were found on the carcass. Bone marrow samples were sent to the Indian Veterinary Research Institute at Izatnagar in Uttar Pradesh for analysis. TNN