Carcass of a male elephant has been found floating at Buridehing river at Dehing-Patkai National Park in Dibrugarh district of Assam.
It is suspected that the elephant died due to drowning in the river.
The elephant’s carcass has been brought onto the bank of Buridehing River.
“We suspected that the elephant died due to drowning in the river. Right now, we cannot say the exact cause of his death. After the postmortem report we can say how the elephant died,” said a forest official.
On the other hand, environmentalists suspect that the elephant was poisoned by poachers.
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“Blood was noticed coming out from the elephant’s mouth. We suspected that the elephant was poisoned by poachers. Dehing-Patkai National Park has a big elephant population and poachers enter the forest to hunt elephants,” said Devojit Moran, a environmentalist.
He said, “A few years ago many elephants were killed by poachers at Lakhipathar forest. The forest department should keep an eye on the illegal activities going on in the forest. Recently, Dehing-Patkai was upgraded as National Park but many villagers living in the vicinity of the forest don’t know. The forest department should involved the villagers to check illegal activities in the forest.”
Last year, many elephants died due to anthrax in Dehing-Patkai National Park.
“Last year we collected samples from dead elephants and found anthrax. So, right now we can’t say anything because we are waiting for the postmortem report,” said a forest official.