A five-year-old male elephant was found dead by villagers at Hassanure forest area in Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) on Monday.

Forest department officials said people from Panahalli forest settlement in Hassanure forest in STR spotted the dead elephant and informed them.

They rushed to the spot along with a veterinary doctor and found the dead pachyderm and the mother elephant nearby, trumpeting loudly and not letting anyone to go near the carcass.

After a two-hour struggle, they managed to scare away the mother elephant back into the forest, after which a post mortem was conducted on the dead elephant, the officials said.

The carcass was later buried in a nearby area.

The officials said they were awaiting the veterinary doctor's report to ascertain the exact cause of death of the elephant.