Four more elephants died at the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve on Wednesday, taking the total number of unnatural pachyderm deaths at the sanctuary to eight in just over 24 hours.

The deaths first came to light on Tuesday afternoon when a forest patrol spotted four dead elephants at the Salakhaniya Beat of the Khitauli and Pataur ranges of the sanctuary.

A subsequent reconnaissance of the forest led to the discovery of another five grievously ill pachyderms.The ill elephants were taken into care by veterinarians at the wildlife park, who sought further assistance from experts at the School of Wildlife Forensic and Health (SWFH) in Jabalpur and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in Dehradun to treat the wild animals in their care.

While four of these elephants have died, one of them is still undergoing treatment at the sanctuary. The dead animals include seven females and a lone male elephant.

With the incident acquiring mammoth proportions, the state forest minister, Ramnivas Rawat, issued directives for the formation of a five-member committee under Additional Chief Principal Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), L. Krishnamoorthy, to conduct an in-depth investigation into the unnatural deaths.

Teams of the elite State Tiger Task Force (STSF) are also participating in the investigations to ascertain the cause behind the deaths that have already wiped out a majority of the herd.

In the absence of specific scientific information, speculations surround the cause of the horrific incident. Over 24 hours after the spotting of the first dead elephants, state wildlife officials are yet to announce the findings of a post-mortem, saying that the reports are still awaited.

Human-elephant conflict is not new in the Umaria district, where the large mammal has often destroyed crops, prompting wildlife officials to pacify tribal farmers on the margins of the sanctuary.

Senior journalist Abhilash Khandekar, who was a member of the Elephant Expert Committee formed under Prof. Sukumar of Bengaluru, said, "We had twice visited Bandhavgarh and other areas to see the problem. Our recommendations were submitted to the government about two years ago. "Though wildlife experts have chosen to refrain from speculation, the vicinity of Bandhavgarh is echoing with whispers that blame millet farmers on the edge of the sanctuary for the heinous incident.