Jumbo mystery deepens, two more carcasses found in Kerala

KOCHI: A week after three wild elephants were found dead in the Pooyamkutty forest area, two other elephant carcasses were found at Goodrickal under Ranni division and at Chombala in Konni division. While the Goodrickal carcass was that of an adult elephant, the one found at Chombala was of a calf.

As concerns have been raised over the frequent deaths of wild elephants, Forest Minister A K Saseendran has directed the southern circle chief forest conservator to probe the incident. Meanwhile, Chief Wildlife Warden (CWW) Pramod G Krishnan has formed a five-member team to investigate unnatural wild elephant deaths during the past 10 years.

Three female wild elephants in the age-group of 15 to 20 years were found dead at Pindimedu in the Pooyamkutty forest on August 22. An eight-member expert panel has been probing the cause of death, but initial reports have dismissed suspicions of anthrax infection.

The team is awaiting lab reports including pathology and toxicology to confirm the reason for death. Between 2015 and 2023, the state has reported 845 wild elephant deaths, which is considered high. This has prompted the forest department to conduct an audit of wild elephant deaths. “We couldn’t get any clue from the initial reports regarding the reasons for the death of wild elephants in Pooyamkutty. The elephant deaths in Ranni and Konni are being viewed seriously. So, we have decided to probe the wild elephant deaths in Kerala forests during the past 10 years,” CWW Pramod.

T K Vinodkumar, conservator with the forest headquarters, will lead the team. Veterinary experts Dr Arun Zachariah and Dr Sibi, DFOs Manu Sathyan and S R Radhakrishnan, and landscape ecologist Dr Balasubramanian will be part of the team, the CWW said.