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Elephant carcass recovered in Tripura’s Khowai district with body parts missing

Tripura officials expect to know the cause of the elephant’s death after receiving the postmortem report within three-four days.

As per a report from the forest department from a few years ago, Tripura is home to 102 elephants--42 wild elephants and 60 in captivity. (Representational Image)

The carcass of an elephant has been recovered from Pramodenagar in Tripura’s Khowai district with injury marks from gunshots and several body parts missing.

“A complaint was filed today. We have started our probe. The postmortem has been completed, and we expect to know the cause of death after receiving the report within three-four days,” an officer from the Kalyanpur police station said on Monday.

An official said that forest department staff, along with local volunteers, visited the site in the Kalyanpur forest division where the elephant’s body was found. “Based on initial observations, it appears to be a case of poaching. We will begin our investigation. We will search for the tusk, as we didn’t find it,” the forest official added.

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Veterinary expert Dr Keshab Debnath said, “The preliminary investigation found injury marks from gunshots on its head, and several body parts, including the ears, legs and tail and a tusk, were missing. Additionally, 300-500 kg of flesh was also removed from the body.”

As per a report from the forest department from a few years ago, Tripura is home to 102 elephants–42 wild elephants and 60 in captivity. A new elephant survey was undertaken in March 2022, but the reports could not be finalised owing to the Covid lockdown imposed shortly thereafter.

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