Jaleswar: The carcass of a female elephant was recovered from Ambatumba forest in Baradiha proposed reserve forest under Kalama panchayat of Jaleswar block in Baleshwar district.
The pachyderm is suspected to have died 10 to 15 days ago.
The exact cause of death remains unclear, and the For est department has launched an investigation.
Officials were informed around 8pm Saturday that an elephant carcass was lying inside the forest.
Raibania Forest Prahallad Nayak, forest guards and elephant squad members reached the spot, secured the carcass and cordoned off the area.
Baleshwar Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Pratik Prakash Indalkar, Ranger Sishir Behera and Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Tatini Sethi also visited the spot and took stock of the situation.
Preliminary investigation suggested that the animal was about 20 years old.
As the car carcass had decomposed considerably, identifying it and determining the cause of death has become difficult.
Forest officials said the exact cause of death would be established after an autopsy.