The female wild elephant, which was found dead in a private land near Thadagam in Coimbatore district, died due to pulmonary haemorrhage, as per the autopsy conducted by the Forest Department on Friday.
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Estimated to be around 20 years old, the elephant's carcass was found on the plot at Melmudi downhill, which falls under Thadagam north beat of Coimbatore forest range, by forest staff on Thursday. As its blood samples examined at a government laboratory tested negative for anthrax in the evening, the autopsy was arranged on Friday, officials said.
A team led by Forest Veterinary Officer A. Sukumar commenced the autopsy on Friday in the presence of Conservator of Forests, Salem circle A. Periyasamy, District Forest Officer of Coimbatore Forest Division T.K. Ashok Kumar and Coimbatore forest range officer R. Arun Kumar along with representatives from NGOs.
Mr. Sukumar said that as per the provisional diagnosis following the autopsy, the pulmonary haemorrhage led to pulmonary and cardiac failure and resulted in its death.
Biological samples were collected from the carcass, which will be sent for laboratory analysis, he added. With this death, the total number of elephants deaths reported in the Coimbatore Forest Division, so far, this year increased to 10.