Radio-collared elephant found dead in Kerala forest

A makhna elephant which was radio-collared and released back into the forest after it strayed into human habitation in Kothamangalam, Ernakulam district was found dead on Saturday morning. A team which was tracking the movement of the elephant found the pachyderm lying motionless in the forest.

“We do not know the cause of death yet. We were observing the movements of the elephant ever since it was released into the forest. It was observed that the elephant remained in the periphery of the forest. When the team went to track the animal, they found it motionless,” said Malayattoor Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Karthik P. He added that a post-mortem would be carried out.

The makhna elephant (a tuskless bull elephant) had strayed into the residential areas in Kottapady and Pindimana grama panchayats in Kothamangalam. The animal’s movement into human habitation had caused fear and panic among the residents following which efforts to tranquilise the animal and release it back to the wild was carried out. The elephant was eventually released into the Vettampara forest after it was radio-collared, according to sources in the Forest department.