Narsingpur: There is no let up in elephant deaths in Odisha as Forest department officials recovered Sunday the carcass of a female elephant calf in a densely forested area of Nuagarh range in Cuttack district Sunday. It is suspected that the calf, approximately a little over two years old, may have died due to scarcity of water and the heatwave sweeping the district, Narsinghpur Eastern Circle ranger Subhash Chandra Rout said.
While reliable sources alleged that the calf died 10 to 15 days back, Forest officials contradicted them stating that the carcass is only two to three days old. The carcass when recovered was on the verge of decomposition. Forest department officials hurriedly conducted a post-mortem and buried the carcass. The ranger said that there are three ponds inside the Brahmani beat jungle where sufficient water is available for wild animals. He said that the calf was moving with the herd, but may have failed to keep pace.
As a result, the herd left the calf to die and moved away. However, locals alleged that the elephant calf could not have died due to water scarcity as plenty of it is available. Many suspects that the pachyderm was killed by a poacher and the Forest Department officials were allegedly trying to shield the guilty
