An elephant which strayed into a marshy portion of a check dam at Nelliyampathy in Palakkad district of Kerala was found dead on Thursday. According to reports, the elephant had sustained injuries on its body, reports The Hindu. Postmortem procedures of the animal will be conducted on Friday.
Locals in the region found the elephant in the Pothupura check dam near the Manalaru Estate on Wednesday. Though it was initially suspected that the elephant was stuck in the check dam, reports state that the animal had managed to get back to shore on Wednesday, but went to the check dam and remained there till it died on Thursday, reports Malayala Manorama. It is suspected that the elephant’s injury marks are from when it locked horns with another jumbo, and went into the check dam to cool itself off.
Though Forest Department officials arrived at the spot on Wednesday, rescue efforts could reportedly not be carried out due to the presence of an elephant herd nearby. However, locals in the region have also reportedly come out criticising the Forest Department officials, alleging that no measures were taken to save the jumbo. The carcass of the elephant was removed from the spot on Thursday using a crane and ropes.
In January, an elephant which got stuck in a well in Kozhikode district, had passed away after being rescued from the well. A massive rescue effort was undertaken to create an 11-metre pit near the well to bring the elephant out. However, since the jumbo was suspected to have been stuck there for two to three days, it succumbed after it was rescued.
Meanwhile, last month, the Kerala government inaugurated the first phase of the development works carried out in the Kottoor Elephant Rehabilitation Centre.
In January, a 26-year-old woman died after an encounter with an elephant at a private resort in Wayanad’s Meppadi forest range. While it is unclear whether she was trampled by the elephant or died due to a cardiac arrest, the owners of the resort were booked for negligence, after major security lapses were found in the tent accommodation that the woman and her family were staying in.