A female elephant, believed to be around 15-years-old, was found dead in Deivamalai village in Gudalur division.
Officials said the carcass was found along the border adjoining Naduvattam and O’Valley ranges. A post-mortem was performed on the carcass on Monday by the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve veterinarian Rajesh Kumar.
Samples have been collected for histopathology and forensic analysis and for the DNA repository, officials said. According to preliminary investigations, the death was due to natural causes, they added.