Take action in wild elephant deaths: Environment ministry to C'garh forest dept

The Union environment ministry on Wednesday directed the forest department of Chhattisgarh to take appropriate action in the deaths of two wild elephants in the state.

The ministry also asked the forest department to apprise it on the matter.

The elephants, one of them pregnant, were found dead in Chhattisgarh's Surajpur district over the last two days, a forest official said.

"Two female elephants have died in Surajpur Forest Division in the state of Chhattisgarh. CWLW (chief wildlife warden), Chhattisgarh is visiting the area and ascertaining the facts. The State Forest Department is requested to take action as appropriate and apprise the facts to the ministry, immediately," the ministry said in a tweet.

According to forest officials, the dead jumbos were part of a herd that had been wandering in the area for the last couple of days.

The deaths of the two pachyderms come just days after a pregnant elephant died in Kerala's Palakkad district after she ate a cracker-filled pineapple. The incident caused a massive uproar in the country, with people across walks of life demanding stringent punishment for the culprit.