Sixth elephant dies in Meghamalai, poaching suspected

Forest personnel had intercepted two men carrying 10 kgs of ivory cut into four pieces at the periphery of Kumily town

A male elephant, aged around 25 years old, was found dead near Suruliyar lower camp, in Madurai on Tuesday. Since the elephant’s carcass was found without its tusk, Forest Department officials suspected that it could be a case of poaching.

This takes the death toll of jumbos in the last three months to six, in the same Venniyar Reserve Forest area in Cumbum East range - an alarming number according to environmentalists.

S. Kalanithi, Wildlife Warden, Meghamalai, said that the carcass was found at Udupiyar saragam near an electricity board station in Cumbum East.

Meanwhile, a senior officer from the Kerala Forest Department said forest personnel had intercepted two men carrying 10 kgs of ivory cut into four pieces at the periphery of Kumily town.

“We arrested two men, Ganga and Prabhu, at Rosapoo Kandam in Kumily and immediately began questioning them. The men admitted that the tusk was removed from Tamil Nadu forest area in Venniyar,” he said.

Officials from Forest Departments of both States said that they are trying to establish a connect between the two events.

The two accused and the ivory would be brought to the spot to ascertain whether the tusk belonged to the dead elephant. Officials from the Kerala Forest Department are expected to reach Venniyar in the afternoon. “If it is found that the accused have removed the tusk, they would be handed over to the Tamil Nadu Forest Department,” said a source from the Kerala Forest Department in Thekkady.

Mr. Kalanithi stated that the post-mortem would be conducted in the evening to ascertain the cause of death and to check if it was accidental.