A 10-year-old elephant was found dead of suspected ‘mating injury’ in Denkanikottai forest on Wednesday morning. The mammal was found dead near Soorappankuttai by the villagers, who later alerted the Forest Department officials.
According to a department source, the autopsy indicated injuries in the private parts of the elephant, presumed to have been caused during mating. The death of the pachyderm is the third such death here in less than a fortnight.
A 20-year-old female elephant with its two-month-old calf was found dead in Denkanikottai forests on December 27. The dead animals were spotted a week later. An autopsy carried out suspected infection that led to the death of the animals. However, the Forest Department has sent the samples for lab tests to Chennai and the results were still awaited.
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