One more tusker dies of mouth injury and starvation in Kovai

The frontline staff of the Forest Department spotted the collapsed pachyderm at Nellimalai Forest area during a regular patrol on Thursday. Then, a team of veterinarians led by District Forest Officer (DFO) D Venkatesh attempted to revive the ailing jumbo. It was administered with 32 bottles of glucose.

On examination, the elephant aged between 9 to 11 years was found to be suffering from a deep wound in its palate incurred possibly due to a fight with another elephant.

Due to injuries, the elephant could not consume fodder and had starved for over last ten days. The elephant had gradually grown weak and collapsed, unable to even walk. Despite efforts to revive, the jumbo died without responding to treatment early on Friday.

DFO D Venkatesh told reporters that the exact cause of the elephant’s death will be known only upon receiving the post mortem report.

“Preliminary examination shows that the jumbo suffered injuries in its mouth possibly due to a fight with another elephant. It had starved to death,” he said.

The DFO further said that an investigation is underway regarding the death of eight elephants due to ailment at Pethikuttai forest beat, which falls under the catchment area of Bhavani River. “Only on receiving the study report, it would be known if there are any specific reasons for their deaths. The experts are looking to know if the elephants had died from consuming ‘seemai karuvela’ trees spread over there or due to water pollution issue,” he said.

A post mortem was carried out and samples were sent for lab analysis. More than 15 elephants have died in Coimbatore, of which 13 elephants have died in Sirumugai and Mettupalayam forest areas alone since January this year.