A female elephant aged between 18 and 20 was found dead in the water storage area of Bhavani Sagar reservoir on Monday evening .
The carcass was found partially submerged in the water at a place called Mayilmokkai, which falls under Pethikuttai reserve forest of Sirumugai range.
Forest Veterinary Officer A. Sukumar and assistant veterinary surgeon C. Thiyagarajan from Sirumugai autopsied the carcass in the presence of District Forest Officer T.K. Ashok Kumar, forest officials and representatives from non-governmental organisations.
Dr. Sukumar said the carcass did not have external injuries. However, fluid mixed with blood had oozed out of the animal’s vagina, which was found swollen. The fluid was seen on the banks of the reservoir. “The area from the elephant’s stomach to the rectum was found empty. Its heart, liver, spleen and kidneys had considerable post-mortem changes,” he said.
Veterinarians suspect hepatitis with miliary abscess of the liver as the cause of death. Bodily samples were collected from the elephant for histopathological examinations.
Pethikuttai RF with the water storage areas of the reservoir on one side and villages on the other side is known for elephant casualties, as several pachyderms have died in the dry deciduous forest area.
A 25-year-old female elephant was found dead at Mayilmokkai on March 16, 2021.
Out of the 20 elephants that had died in Coimbatore Forest Division up to September in 2020, seven deaths were reported in Pethikuttai RF where elephants congregate mainly for water in the summer.
According to Forest Department officials, herds from places such as Wayanad, Nilambur, Silent Valley, Bandipur, the Nilgiris, the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve and Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve come to the forest patch of 2,080 hectare in the beginning of summer every year.
The dry forest patch with mostly thorny trees and bushes is also home to hundreds of spotted deer that reduces available fodder resources for elephants. In 2020, more than 30 elephants were trapped in the RF with minimal vegetation for over six months as they were unable to move to the lower portions of the Nilgiris eastern slope due to increased water level in Bhavani Sagar reservoir.
Though the dam is situated in Erode district, its water spread area stretches up to 20 km covering portions of Sirumugai forest range in Coimbatore district.
