An adult male elephant was found dead in a reserve forest area near Anaikatti in Coimbatore district on Thursday. Forest Department officials said that the tusker could have been killed, succumbing to the injuries it had suffered in a fight with another male elephant.
The elephant was found dead in Pazhapannai area within the Anaikatti central beat of Coimbatore forest range around 2 p.m. on Thursday.
A herder - Ponnusamy - alerted the Forest Department staff that two male elephants were fighting each other in the area. The staff rushed to the spot and found a tusker dead. The carcass had multiple injuries, possibly inflicted by the other elephant.
Coimbatore forest range officer Arun Kumar visited the area and deployed staff for security of the carcass which had both tusks intact. According to the Forest Department, the carcass will be autopsied on Friday.
