Dibrugarh: The carcass of a male elephant was found in a paddy field at Lezai-Kalakhowa Majgaon in Assam's Dibrugarh district on Monday morning.
This is the second elephant death in the area in three days. On October 13, a female elephant was found dead in a pad-dy field at Gorudhoria village.
"The villagers told us about the elephant. We rushed to the spot and found the carcass of a five-year-old elephant. The cause of death is yet to be ascertained. We are awaiting the post-mortem report," Khowang forest ranger Biraj Barman said.
He said the villagers informed them about a herd of nearly 50 elephants that came out of the Dehing-Medela reserve forest last night. The dead elephant reportedly got into a fight with another one.
"The elephant was buried after an autopsy. We are taking steps to reduce the man-elephant conflict but it is very difficult to control a huge herd. We use crackers to drive them back into the forest but they don't care. They come out in search of food," he added.
Sources said the farmers put up electric wires around their lands to prevent elephants from destroying their crops. In the past 11 months, three elephants have died of suspected electrocution while one elephant died of poisoning and another died of ill health.
The forest department has filed FIRs but no action has been taken.
The divisional forest officer, Dilip Deka, told The Telegraph that the elephant carcass was found 1km from the electric fencing. "The elephant did not die of electrocution. There was no injury mark.''
Nature enthusiast Nakul Khound said as a result of shrinking forestland, the elephants come out in search of food. "The elephant herd comes to the area every winter, travelling from Neemati-ghat in Jorhat to Arunachal Pradesh through this route. Some of them come into contact with high-voltage electric wires and die. The area is like a burial ground for elephants,'' Khound added.
Sources said the elephants are dying because of the laidback attitude of the forest department. "In the past year, three elephants died of electrocution but till now the forest department has not taken any steps,'' said a source.
