Boudh/Talagaon: Coming close on the heels of poaching of two elephants reportedly for their tusks in Keonjhar district, another tusker was shot dead by poachers at Mundesar reserve forest under Harbhanga block in Boudh, forest officials said Wednesday.
The two animals were killed under Champua forest range in Keonjhar district, Saturday but the matter came to light Sunday.
The matter came to the fore when some women who had gone to the forest to collect mushrooms noticed a tusker lying dead near Budunimati nullah Wednesday. The women rushed back to the village and informed co-villagers. On being informed, Susant Pradhan, the president of the village forest conservation committee, alerted Talagaon forester.
The forester informed Madhapur ranger Saroj Kumar Mishra and DFO Jashobant Sethi who rushed to the spot. The pachyderm was found dead with bullet injuries on its body. Its tusks were four feet in length. Poachers failed to steal its tusk as the place of occurrence was just a few metres from the village.
The body of the animal was found riddled with 10 to 12 bullets. A veterinarian conducted post-mortem of the animal before burying it at the spot. The tusks were trimmed and brought to the forest office.
When contacted, the DFO said the animal was shot by poachers in Kusang reserve forest but it ran into Mundesar reserve forest with pain and fell down. Three years ago, a team of DVF jawans, while travelling in the jungle for combing operation, caught some poachers while they were trimming the tusks of a jumbo and arrested them.
PNN
