A male elephant succumbed to illness in Sirumugai forest range of Coimbatore on Friday. The elephant was receiving treatment provided by the Forest Department. However, the exact nature of the illness will be known only after the post mortem, forest officials said. This comes a day after another elephant was found shot dead in Coimbatore.
On June 28, the elephant was given treatment for illness by the district forest officials in Coimbatore and sent back to the forest on the same day. The elephant was being monitored by the Forest Department. However, the health of the elephant continued to deteriorate.
Following this, Forest Department officials, along with veterinary staff, once again began treatment for the elephant from June 30.
However, on Friday, the elephant’s health condition further worsened and the pachyderm was surrounded by other elephants. Subsequently, when the forest officials went to check the elephant, it was found dead.
“The postmortem is going on. The elephant was already ill and we were providing treatment. The proper reason for the death will be known only after the postmortem report,” said District Forest Officer D Venkatesh.
The Sirumugai forest range has witnessed the deaths of seven elephants in the past few months, the District Forest Officer said. “Liver problem, gastro ingestion, intestine ingestion and other reasons are there for the death of the elephants,” he said.
The death of the male elephant follows the death of two elephants in the same zone in Coimbatore on Thursday.
A female elephant was found dead with an injury mark on its ear on Thursday. It was later found that the pachyderm was shot dead.
The elephant had been roaming in the agricultural field in search of food and water.
During the post-mortem, veterinary doctors of the Forest Department found a metal object in the skull of the elephant. The owners of the farm, Ramasamy and Krishnaswamy, were arrested on Thursday on grounds of suspicion.
Another elephant also died due to illness in Sirumugai on Thursday.