Officials of the Kurseong forest division on Tuesday recovered the carcass of a female adult elephant from the Bamonpokhri forest area on the outskirts of Siliguri.
The elephant was pregnant, foresters said.
Around 6am, foresters got information that the carcass of a female elephant had been spotted at Sukhiakhola, a hilly stream that flows through the Bamanpokhri forest range.
“Our patrolling team spotted the female elephant prostrate beside a stream. Initial findings suggest that it was a 25-year-old elephant who was pregnant,” said Devesh Pandey, the divisional forest officer of Kurseong.
Later in the day, foresters told vets who reached the spot and performed a post-mortem of the carcass.
A department source said preliminary probe hinted that the elephant was ill. During pregnancy, the elephant might have suffered an internal infection which proved fatal.
Pandey spoke in similar vein. “The elephant might have suffered from some infection, which made it move towards the water body. We have not found any external injury. The vets have done a post-mortem. We are waiting for their report,” he said.
As of now, around 120 elephants are wandering in the foothills under the jurisdiction of the forest division.
A major challenge for foresters is to prevent herds from crossing the Nepal border, as elephant deaths by electrocution have earlier been reported from the neighbouring country.