The dead elephant in Andaman village. (Anirban Choudhury)

Andaman (Alipurduar), May 25: A pregnant elephant, which was part of a herd chased by forest officials for 45 minutes yesterday, was found dead here this morning.

Experts said it could have died of exhaustion.

A post-mortem has ruled out anthrax, poisoning or electrocution. “It was not suffering from any acute disease. The animal was in an advanced stage of pregnancy and over-exertion may have killed it,” said Ujjwal Ghosh, the Cooch Behar divisional forest officer.

The herd of 15 elephants had entered Satali village last night. The forest department was informed and the guards chased the herd away.

As on most such occasions, villagers — last night there were around 50 — helped the forest employees. With crackers and lighted torches, they chased the animals from three sides, leaving only the way to the forest open.

“Animals get scared when they hear crackers bursting,” a forest official said.

On its way, the herd damaged a cornfield in Andaman, the village next to Satali.

Around 3am, Bande Oraon, a member of the Forest Protection Committee, found the elephant dead in the field.

Ghosh and two veterinary surgeons reached the spot eight hours later. A post mortem was conducted on the spot.

The carcass will be buried in the cornfield if the landowner permits, said Ghosh.

Samples of body tissues have been sent to the Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Calcutta.

“The animal would have given birth in two weeks. It was a complete foetus. We will preserve it in our Madarihat Nature Interpretation Centre,” added Ghosh.

The Jalpaiguri animal resource department has confirmed that another elephant found dead last Sunday in the Noam range of the Kalimpong division was suffering from anthrax.

Around 7,000 anthrax vaccines have reached the Jaldapara Wild Life Sanctuary, where the vaccination programme is set to start from tomorrow.

The divisional forest officer, however, said it was part of an annual programme.

The bodies of two male adult Gours were found in Jaldapara on Friday night. The cause of death is not known yet.

Deer dead

A barking deer died in Dakshin Mahakalguri village, apparently after a group of children chased it. The village is one of the many on the fringes of the Buxa Tiger Reserve.