Two wild elephant calves that were ailing succumbed to injuries in forest ranges of Periyanaickenpalayam and Mettupalayam in Coimbatore on Wednesday.
In the first incident, a male calf, aged around one-and-a-half-years-old, that was injured while trespassing into a farm at Mettupalayam in the early hours of Tuesday died on Wednesday morning.
Belonging to a four-member herd that trespassed into the private farm at Dasan Palayam village near Mettupalayam, the calf was wounded in its trunk while crossing the iron fence which was also connected to power.
While a female elephant aged around 30 and a juvenile male elephant aged between 6 and 7 were electrocuted, the fourth elephant managed to escape.
District Forest Officer S. Ramasubramanianan said that the elephant died around 12.45 p.m. despite all possible treatment given.
In the second incident, a female elephant which was found with an ulcer in its mouth at Seeliyur, near Periyanaickenpalayam Range, on Tuesday died around 6 a.m on Wednesday.
Forest officials said that the elephant had not taken food and water for several days due to the ulcer in its mouth. The autopsy also revealed that the elephant had a severe injury in its right leg.
