Two elephants, calf found dead in Kodagu

MADIKERI: A cow elephant and its calf were found dead in a coffee plantation, while another elephant’s carcass was found in a tank at a coffee estate in Virajpet taluk of South Kodagu on Thursday. The cow elephant and its calf were found dead in the coffee estate at Soorikadu near Nalkeri.

Forest officials, who examined the carcasses, suspect that the cow elephant, which had sustained a bullet injury, might have collapsed on its calf, killing it on the spot. Deputy Conservator of Forests Maria Christu Raja told Deccan Chronicle that the samples of the two carcasses had been sent for forensic tests. The carcass of a tusker , aged 20, was found in a tank in the coffee estate at Nalkeri. Raja suspects that a herd of elephants might have entered the estate in search of water. The tusker, which entered the tank, got caught in the slush and drowned.