Guwahati, Nov. 2: A female elephant was found dead on the bank of the Doigrong in Golaghat forest division early this morning.

The carcass of the full-grown, pregnant elephant was found by the villagers, who informed the forest department.

Samraipur forest beat officer Arun Hazarika said the post-mortem conducted on the elephant found injury marks all over the body.

The elephant was probably attacked by other members of the herd, which resulted in fatal injuries. “It died a painful death with the calf fully matured inside. The calf died too,” the forest official said.

He, however, did not entirely rule out the possibility of the elephant being attacked by villagers since the herd had damaged large patches of paddy fields last night.

Hazarika said forest guards had chased away this particular herd of elephants from the paddy fields last night after villagers complained.

“Our guards were there till late night. But we can’t say whether the villagers did attack the herd before our personnel arrived at the place,” Hazarika said.

Prasanta Boro, a veterinarian at the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) near Kaziranga, said it was not uncommon for a pregnant elephant being attacked by other members of the herd.

“We have detected a similar incident inside Kaziranga National Park a few years back,” he said.

The incident comes three days after another elephant was found dead after being electrocuted in neighbouring Karbi Anglong district.

The male elephant came into contact with high-tension electric wires, which were hanging low after an electric pole broke down in the Haticamp area. Forest officials said it could be the same herd of elephants since the area is not even 50km away.

“The particular herd keeps moving around these areas in search of food,” a forest official in Karbi Anglong said.

Altogether eight elephants died in Assam since September this year.

Four elephants died in Udalguri district, two in Goalpara and one each in Karbi Anglong and Golaghat districts. Four of these elephants died of electrocution.

In Udalguri, villagers lay power cables on paddy fields connected to high-tension wire running above to kill elephants to avert damage to the crops. Several people have also died in the man-elephant conflict.

“It is the biggest problem Assam is staring at. The only feasible solution is that man should learn to live with the elephants,” a forest official said.