Elephant found dead in Chhattisgarh's Surajpur district

A wild elephant was found dead at a forest in Chhattisgarh's Surajpur district on Sunday, an official said.

The carcass of the tusker was spotted in the morning in Pratappur forest range under Surajpur forest division, state additional principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) Arun Kumar Pandey told PTI.

On being alerted about the death, forest officials rushed to the spot, located around 340 km from the state capital Raipur, he said.

The cause of death will be known after an autopsy, Pandey said, adding that an investigation is underway.

In June, six elephants died in four state districts, including Pratappur forest range of Surajpur, due to different reasons. Another jumbo was electrocuted in Jashpur district last month, forest officials said.

Later, Chief Minister Bhuepsh Baghel directed for constitution of teams of 10 people in each forest division affected by human-elephant conflicts for continuous monitoring of the movement of tuskers.

The thick-forested northern Chhattisgarh, consisting of Surguja, Korba, Surajpur, Raigarh, Jashpur and Koriya districts, is known for human-animal conflicts.

The region has witnessed several killings of tribals as well as elephants and widespread damage to houses and crops by rogue pachyderms in the past years.

Sometimes, locals illegally lay electric wires around their farms to prevent wild elephants from destroying their crops.