Elephant dies after coming in contact with livewire in Bengal

An elephant died due to electrocution after coming in contact with a live electric wire in West Bengals Jalpaiguri district on Tuesday, a senior forest department official said.

Chief Wildlife Warden Ravikant Sinha told PTI that the carcass of an adult tusker was found in a field next to a pump-house by the locals at Ramjhora village.

The pachyderm, which strayed from the nearby forest, must have been electrocuted after it came in contact with the livewire, he said, adding that an autopsy will confirm the exact cause of its death.

On July 9, the carcass of a "sub-adult" male elephant, aged around four years, was found in a paddy field near Garo Busty village in the Rajabhatkhawa area adjoining the Buxa Tiger Reserve in neighbouring Alipurduar district.

With this, at least four elephants have died in Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts, including two near the Buxa Tiger Reserve, since mid-June, another forest official said.

Three of the four deaths were caused due to electrocution, he added.

The forest department is looking into the deaths of the pachyderms, Sinha said.