Coimbatore: Decomposed carcass of a male elephant was found at Poonachi in Valparai forest range on Saturday.
A team of frontline staff from Valparai forest range, on patrol duty, found the carcass on Saturday evening.
Forest veterinary officer Dr Vijayaragavan conducted a postmortem on Sunday in the presence of assistant conservator of forests Selvam, Valparai range officer Venkatesh and Karthik of NGO Aranya.
Prima facie, infighting is suspected to be the cause of death, Vijayaragavan said. “It has sustained a fractured skull. The ivories were intact and safeguarded. It was around 42 years old.”
After the postmortem, the carcass was left in the open for natural decomposition and scavengers to feed.TNN