Elephant found dead in Chhattisgarh

A wild elephant was found dead at a forest in Chhattisgarh's Surajpur district on Sunday, an official said.

carcass of tusker was spotted in morning in Pratappur forest range under Surajpur forest division, state additional principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) Arun Kumar Pandey told PTI.

On being alerted about death, forest officials rushed to spot, located around 340 km from state capital Raipur, he said.

cause of death will be kwn after an autopsy, Pandey said, adding that an investigation is underway.

In June, six elephants died in four state districts, including Pratappur forest range of Surajpur, due to different reasons. Ar jumbo was electrocuted in Jashpur district last month, forest officials said.

Later, Chief Minister Bhuepsh Baghel directed for constitution of teams of 10 people in each forest division affected by human-elephant conflicts for continuous monitoring of movement of tuskers.

thick-forested rrn Chhattisgarh, consisting of Surguja, Korba, Surajpur, Raigarh, Jashpur and Koriya districts, is kwn for human-animal conflicts.

region has witnessed several killings of tribals as well as elephants and widespread dam to houses and crops by rogue pachyderms in past years.

Sometimes, locals illegally lay electric wires around ir farms to prevent wild elephants from destroying ir crops.

(Representative im, credits: PTI)