The elephant that was found dead in Andaman on Sunday. Picture by Anirban Choudhury

Andaman (Alipurduar), May 25: A pregnant elephant was found dead here this morning. The animal probably died of exertion after forest employees chased the herd to which it belonged for nearly 45 minutes.

A postmortem has ruled out anthrax, poisoning or electrocution. “It was not even suffering from any acute diseases. The animal was in an advanced stage of pregnancy and an overexertion may have killed it,” said Ujjwal Ghosh, the DFO of the Cooch Behar forest division.

Last night the herd of 15 elephants entered Satali, a village in the Kodal Basti Range of the of Cooch Behar division. The forest department was informed and the guards chased the herd towards the Mendabari 1 compartment.

Like any other day, villagers — last night there were around 50 of them — helped the forest employees. With crackers and lighted torches, the group gave the chase from three sides, leaving the direction to the forest open.

“Animals get scared when they hear crackers bursting. The elephant might not have run very fast, but, despite being tired, was forced to traverse the distance which, in other circumstances, it would not have,” said a forest official.

On its way, the herd damaged a cornfield in Andaman, the village next to Satali. Around 3am, Bande Oraon, a member of Forest Protection Committee, found the elephant dead in the field.

Eight hours later, Ghosh, along with two veterinary surgeons, reached the spot. A post mortem was conducted and the foetus brought out. The carcass will be buried in the cornfield after taking permission from the land owner, said Ghosh. Samples of body tissues have been sent to Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in Calcutta.

“The animal would have given birth in two weeks’ time. It was a complete foetus. We will preserve it in our Madarihat Nature Interpretation Centre. Villagers who have lost their crops will be compensated,” said Ghosh.

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

Around 7,000 anthrax vaccines have reached Jaldapara Wild Life Sanctuary, where the vaccination programme is set to start from tomorrow. The DFO, however, said it is part of an annual programme. On Friday night, the bodies of two male adult Gours were found in the north range of Jaldapara, the cause of death unknown.

Deer dead

An adult barking deer died in Dakshin Mahakalguri village after a group of children chased it. The village is one of many that dot the fringes of Buxa Tiger Reserve (East) division. The body has been sent for postmortem.