The carcass of a male elephant aged about 45-50 years was found in the bushes in Katarniaghat forest here, a senior forest department official said on Saturday.

Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary comes under the area of Dudhwa National Park.

Field Director of Dudhwa National Park H. Raja Mohan said that they received information regarding the death of an elephant in the trans-Gerua area of Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary on Thursday.

The area where the carcass of the elephant was found was so inaccessible that "we had to cross the river by boat to reach there. We reached there with great difficulty by travelling some distance in the jeep of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and some distance on a two-wheeler."

He said that looking at the footprints found in the field inspection at the spot, the broken trees nearby and the wounds on the body of the dead elephant, it seemed that the said elephant must have died in a fight between two adult elephants sometime on Tuesday or Wednesday, information of which was received by the department on Thursday.

On Friday, a panel of three doctors conducted the post-mortem examination of the elephant's body.

The post-mortem report revealed that the elephants died due to a fight among themselves. Doctors and experts have estimated the age of the dead male elephant to be around 45 to 50 years.

The field director said that the dead elephant's body had been buried in the forest after the post-mortem examination as per the standard operating procedure. The viscera of the elephant's internal organs have been preserved and sent to the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izzatnagar Bareilly for a detailed pathological and toxicological examination.

This examination will ensure whether the elephant had any disease and whether any intoxicating or poisonous substance was present in its body.

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